Time Of Your Life
by aca-avenger
Summary: A sequel to 'Brand New Eyes'. Arizona and Callie's family has grown and they're still as much in love as when they first met. Life is seemingly perfect. But this new hurdle on the horizon is going to throw every aspect of their life off course.
1. Break Me Out

Hey guys I know you guys haven been anxiously waiting on this and I'm very glad to get it up. This chapter was so ridiculously hard to write so I apologize for the long wait. **But before you read you guys need to know some background information**. This story takes approx. 16 years in the future, but you guys WILL get to see numerous flashbacks of Rory and the rest of Callie's and Arizona's kids growing up. Now for characters, Rory is going to be in twelfth grade, the baby announced at the end of BNE is Mark who is in the eleventh, and then you have Tommy and Ada (also known as Addie) who are in the tenth grade. I thought that I'd switch things up a bit by writing so for ahead in the future but I really hope that it doesn't disappoint any of you because I truly think you'll enjoy this story just as much as BNE. I really hope I deliver and meet your high expectations. So now that I have that out of the way, this chapter takes place from Arizona's point of view! _Italics are a flashback. _I really, really hope you enjoy!

Prologue. Break Me Out

"Break me out tonight,  
I wanna see the sun rising anywhere but here,  
Come with me."  
- Break Me Out, The Rescues

"Mom, explain why we are doing this again?" My fifteen year old daughter leans over in the middle seat of the SUV so that I can see her face in the rearview mirror. Her piercing blue eyes are staring into my identical gaze. Her light blonde hair's pulled into her infamous braids.

"We're doing this Addie because in two days its Grandpa's 70th birthday tomorrow and we all agreed, Aunt Ellie, Aunt Madison, Uncle Alex, and I, that we'd all get together and throw Grandpa a big party." I try and make my seriousness present in my voice without scaring her.

"Okay, I get that part Mom. But why in the heck are we leaving for Oregon at eleven o'clock at night?" I could sense the slight restlessness in Addie's voice. I knew how much she hated to sleep in the car, out of all of our children she was the only one who would stay up during road trips to visit family, the rest of them would be out like a light within the first ten minutes.

I turn in my seat so that I'm actually looking at her without aid from the mirror. "We left early because that means we'd get extra time with Grandpa and Grandma before everyone else shows up. Well besides for Aunt Ellie and Uncle David, of course." I give her a small smile hoping it will calm her down. Addie may have been biologically my daughter but she had Calliope's temper and it didn't take much to send her off into a Spanish rant like my wife was oh so famous for.

This wasn't the only reason why we had left Seattle earlier than planned. This week was especially tough. I had lost two of my long term patients and a transfer from Seattle Presbyterian. I just couldn't stand to stay there watch the sun rise there for one more day knowing that it would be long gone before I even finished breakfast and got to enjoy it. I loved Seattle weather but I just needed a day with sunshine. With Calliope growing up in Miami she understood my need for the sun when I was in a bad mood decided that we'd drive down to Oregon as soon as we were all packed and after a nap so that she wouldn't fall asleep while on the road. I had instantly agreed and here we are.

"Okay, then. Now it makes sense. So where are we staying this time, so I can know what to expect. It's either a somewhat quiet house with my favorite cousin or a more than likely loud and cramped house with Grandma and Grandpa. So what's the verdict?"

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Calliope give me a look before putting her eyes back on the road. Calliope was slightly uneasy about the whole thing. As much as she loved my parents and my family she tends to get nervous when they visited or vice versa. It was something I've adjusted to. I knew that once we got there and the initial greetings were done and over with Calliope would be fine as always.

I lay my hand on Calliope's atop the gear shift to comfort her before answering Addie. "Well, I asked Aunt Ellie about you and Rory staying there while we were in Oregon but Aunt Madison already had asked her so her house is full. Sorry, honey. But you'll get to see as much of Zooey as possible anyways, Addie."

Ellie and David had Zooey at the same time that I had Addie, and Tommy, so they had been best friends since they were born. Their son Jesse was a few years younger than Zooey and was in the sixth grade. I was glad that Calliope and I had decided to have our children close together considering the "horror" stories I overheard Zooey telling Addie and from Ellie herself.

"Alright then." Addie lets out a sigh of disappointment. I understand her frustration so I give her a sympathetic smile. There was going to be at least 14 of us staying at my parent's house the time we're there. There was definitely bound to be a lot of noise as Addie had expected. "Can we play the license plate game? Everyone else back here is asleep." Addie rolls her eyes in disapproval.

The license plate game had been a Robbins family traditional as long as I could remember. We had played it on road trips and while moving to a new town growing up. I couldn't help but remember one day on a road trip to Miami a few months before Addie had turned two.

_Calliope and I knew that it would be a long drive all the way to Florida but Derek had given us three weeks off so visit Calliope's family so we thought it would be an interesting way to get there. Even with Calliope's well off background she had only been to five states so I thought this would be a great way for her, not to mention the kids, to see what she had been missing. _

"_Okay, Rory. What state is that on the truck in front of us?" I ask Rory who has been focused intently on the license plate game that has saved us from the 'are we there yet?'s for the past two states._

"_That's Kentucky." She replies proudly. She had been talking in full sentences since was almost two. Calliope and I had been amazed at language skills, especially considering Calliope herself was never great with words. _

"_You're better at this game than I am, sure." Calliope says enthusiastically as she turns around in the passenger seat to look at Rory. "You hungry, meija?"_

"_No, Mommy. I'm tired." I look in the rearview mirror and noticed the tiredness in her eyes. _

"_Well go to sleep then silly goose." Calliope chuckles slightly. _

"_I don't want to. I mean Addie's a baby and she's not asleep so why should I be?" Rory asks stubbornly. _

"_Well, meija, just because Addie's awake doesn't mean that you have to be. She slept all the way from Seattle to Montana and you didn't." I can tell that Calliope is trying to get Rory to go to sleep so that we won't be faced with temper tantrum once she gets over tired later. _

"_Just go to sleep, sweetie. You have plenty of time to play the license plate game later okay?" I say amiably as I look into my rearview mirror once again so I can see her reaction. _

"_Okay, Momma. You promise? You promise we'll play later?" Rory asks hoping I'll agree with her. The sleepiness in her voice is undeniable._

"_I promise, Rory. Now go to sleep okay?" I can't help but chuckle slightly at Rory who looks so much like Calliope in this moment._

_Rory quickly pulls her blanket up and places her current favorite stuffed dog on her shoulder. She turns away from Calliope and I, and within minutes I can hear her soft snores waver through the SUV._

"_How do you do that?" Calliope turns to me with a look of utter curiosity on her face. _

"_Do what?" _

"_Make her get to sleep like that? It always takes me forever to get her to fall asleep. I usually have to everything under the sun to make her sleep." Calliope's voice is underlined with slight shock at my abilities to make our daughter sleep._

"_That's because I don't baby her, and she knows that you'll do anything to get her asleep. But that's not your fault you just love her too much not to." I smile at Calliope, hoping that she's not about to get mad at me for saying that. _

"_Hey!" Calliope goes to continue but we're shockingly interrupted._

"_Mommy!" Addie half yells cutting Calliope off. Calliope turns around in her seat to face our youngest child a wide smile spreading across her face. "Mommy, orange car!" _

_Calliope her head around for a quick second to see what Addie is talking about. Yes, sure enough, about 12 feet away on the other side of the divided highway is an orange Ford Mustang coming towards us. _

_I turn my head slightly towards Calliope giving her a wide, dimple clad smile. Calliope sees the smile out of the corner of her eye and smiles back immediately. "Yes, Addie. That is an orange car. Good job, sweetie." Calliope sticks her hand out to our daughter who looks as if she's just won the lottery. "Give Mommy a high-five." Addie quickly slaps her hand against Calliope with a small giggle before going back to playing with her shapes puzzle. _

_Calliope turns back to sit properly in her seat before she chuckles to herself. _

"_What?" I ask, my voice ringing with pride out of Addie's little outburst._

"_Our kids are amazing." Calliope hangs her head slightly and puts her hand over her forehead for a moment before speaking again. Her head is completely turned in my direction now. "That was the understatement of the century, but it's true. I mean Addie isn't even two and she just said her first sentence. Rory can name out almost all fifty states and she's only four and a half. Mark's three and he understands the concept of soccer and can read almost as good as a five year old. Tommy is obsessed with anything that has wheels or makes music of almost any kind and likes to figure out how it works." _

_Calliope stops for a moment as if to see if I'm still listening. I nod in reply to let her know that I was all ears. "It's crazy, they're so young but they're so unique, they each have a mind of their own. They're tiny humans." A widespread smile crosses her face. I can't help but remember my speech years ago when I first introduced Calliope along with some other attendings and a few residents to the Ped's wing. I can't believe she remembered._

"_You remembered?" A smile crosses my own face with my words. _

_Calliope chuckles characteristically. "Of course I remember. I wasn't just standing there staring at you through that entire speech and wasn't listening. I always listen." _

_Calliope, always listening, yeah right. "Seriously? So that time when I asked you bring me in a peanut butter sandwich with banana on it for breakfast and you brought me a strawberry banana muffin you were totally listening?" I couldn't help laugh. Calliope definitely wasn't always listening but I would have to say that ninety-five percent of the time she was, which is a hell of a lot better than her not listening at all. _

"_Fine. Maybe, not all the time but most of the time." Calliope frowns slightly._

"_I'm just bugging you, Calliope. You have impeccable listening skills." I don't resist the childish impulse to slightly stick my tongue out at her. _

"_Hey!" Calliope half yells, careful not to wake Rory. _

"_I love you, Calliope." I laugh sweetly as I take Calliope hand in my own._

"_I love you too, Arizona." Calliope slowly lifts my hand to her lips, gently kissing the back of my hand. _

_In this moment I'm perfectly content. I have no regrets. I don't regret choosing Calliope and facing my fears over wallowing in everything that I've lost and everything that could have been. I don't regret it because I know that this is the way things should be._

"Mom? Mom!" Addie's confused voice makes me aware of the present day. "

"Sorry Addie, I was just driving down memory lane for a moment there. I'd love to sweetie but it's dark out and you had a point when you said everyone else was asleep. You should be asleep too." I smile sympathetically.

"I don't want to go to sleep. I want to–" I cut Addie off because I know exactly what she's going to say.

"You want to keep us company I know but you've got nothing to worry about, Addie. I'm definitely not going to let your mother fall asleep at the wheel. Right, Calliope?" I now search for some reinforcement from Calliope because I know that if Addie doesn't go to sleep now she's going to be super mad at me in the morning for not making her go to sleep.

"Your Mom's right Addie. Just go to sleep, we'll be just fine up here. Plus just think of it this way, the more sleep you get now the less you have to catch up on later therefore the more time you get to spend with Zooey. Right?" Calliope looks into the rearview mirror with a slightly inquisitive look on her face.

"I see your point. Fine, I'm off to sleep then, if I can that is. You two better not be cracking jokes and making each other laugh, especially you." Addie points her finger at Calliope, and raises an eyebrow just as Calliope would have done.

I can't help but laugh slightly now. "Of course, I won't make her laugh, well not to hard anyways." I shake my head before looking back at Addie. "Just go to sleep Addie, you've got no worries."

"Alright, night Mom, night Ma." She replies before grabbing her blanket from down by her feet and covering herself, turning towards the passenger window.

"Night Ad." Calliope says with a smile.

"Night sweetie." I say before turning back towards the windshield, not once letting go of Calliope's hand. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Calliope looking at me; her gaze is nearly completely focused on me. "Yes, Calliope?"

"Nothing." She replies almost too quickly for me to be able to take her seriously.

"Calliope." I continue to press her because I know this isn't in my head.

Her voice is lowered significantly, so much that I can barely hear it even though I'm right next to her. "I didn't want to mention it until I knew the kids were all asleep. But something's bother you. I can see it all over your face. Your smile doesn't quite reach your eyes and you look around to see if anyone else has noticed it. And I do, I do notice it. So you need to tell me what's going on in that breathtaking mind of yours because you're scaring me." I can feel the anxiety in her voice; it's purely inevitable.

My mind begins to race uncontrollably. What do I say to her? How can I possibly tell her this? It will make her feel as if her walls are crumbling down around her and she's helpless. All I can do now is lie through my teeth and pray that she won't see right through it all. All I want is to break out and be free of this chaos.


	2. Will You Be There

Hey guys I am so glad that you love this story so much and I'm very thankful for all the feedback! **I apologize for a little mistake I made at the end of the prologue; the majority of you picked up on it though.** **The last two paragraphs are in Callie's point of view. **So for those of you who picked up on that you guys have great reading skills. I wouldn't have noticed my mistake if I hadn't read your guys reviews. Now onwards to the first chapter; this chapter is in Callie's point of view. _Italics are flashbacks,_ as always. Hope you guys enjoy! Again thanks for the support! =D

One. Will You Be There

"I'm so confused will you show to me,  
You'll be there for me and care enough to bear me."  
- Will You Be There, Michael Jackson

"Tommy? Come on wake up." I pull the ear bud headphones carefully but swiftly out of my son's ears. "Tommy." I still receive no response from him. "Tom!"

"What?!" Tommy's eyelids shoot open to reveal his dark brown eyes as he jumps out of his sear slightly. I can't help but raise my eyebrow at him. "Sorry." He smiles weakly.

"You're forgiven, just don't do it next time. We're here now so you can get up and help me take the stuff out of the car. Please?" I reply as I lean out of the backseat doorway before making my way to the back of the SUV.

A few moments later as I open the hatch Tommy appears at my side, running his fingers through his black hair that could be considered by the teenage girls whose parents work at SGMW as "McDreamy"-like. "Okay, Mom, hand me what you got." Tommy flashes me a smile wife enough to reveal his dimples. The immediately cause me to smile back.

"Here you go, macho man. Don't carry more than you can handle." I laugh as I hand off Arizona's large suitcase to Tommy. He was quite strong for a fifteen year old boy who only participates in sports that involves wheels.

"Look whose talking, wonder woman." Tommy chuckles along with me before rolling his eyes. I can't help but watch him as he walks away towards Arizona's parents' house. Tommy was the only child out of all our four children that could be considered equally Arizona and me.

Unpacking the SUV as Arizona, Rory, Mark & Addie went in to see Daniel and Elizabeth has given me the time to think about the conversation Arizona and I had had almost two hours outside of Oregon City.

* * *

_I can't think of what to say. My mind may be racing uncontrollably but there are no coherent thoughts; nothing I can turn into words, words to calm her down because she can't hear this from me. She just can't. _

"_Calliope, I need you to tell me what's wrong." I feel Arizona squeeze my hand slightly. _

"_A case." I pause because the words come out of my mouth involuntarily. It's not necessarily a lie but it's not the whole truth either. "A case just struck a nerve and I'm just trying to get it out of my head. There's nothing wrong with me. So I just need you to distract me, tell me some jokes." I chuckle now trying to keep this conversation as light as possible. _

"_You sure you don't want to talk about this?" I can sense the concern in her voice as she smiles sympathetically. _

"_I'm sure, not right now. We can talk about it later on, okay? I just want to spend some happy quality time with you considering that I'm ninety-nine percent sure that I'm not going to get to spend time alone with you this weekend." I squeeze Arizona's hand trying to reassure her._

_I can tell by the look on her face now that she's still worried, as if she's waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it will. She'll found out soon enough, I can't protect her from this, as much as I wish I could, and I can't. So I just want her to be happy now until it does happen. The little white lie is my way of protecting her, just for now. _

* * *

"Aunt Callie!" As soon as I walk through the door a small body collides with my own. I look down to find a dirty blond mess of hair belonging to my youngest nephew, Jonah, Arizona's older sister Madison's youngest.

I can't help but smile. "Hey there little man, what's shakin'?" I slowly put down the bags I'm carrying before lifting Jonah up in my arms. Jonah was pretty small for a seven year old making it possible for me to carry him.

"We got here early so we could get to see you and Auntie Zona, for longer. And Grandpa got a cool new machine thingy. It looks like a gun holder thing." Jonah's eyes filled with amazement.

"Well I'm glad to see you too, Jo. Where's Auntie Zona hiding anyways?" I ask curiously because the rest of the house is quiet, which definitely is a rare occurrence at the Robbins' household when they all got together.

"She went upstairs with Aunt Ellie and Grandma. Everyone else is in the den with Grandpa and the rest of the grown ups. But when Tommy said you were coming in after him I wanted to come and see you." He smiles widely showing off his infamous Robbins' dimples.

I laugh slightly to hide my nervousness. "Okay, well let's go to the den then." I put Jonah down before following him downstairs to the den.

I'm met with the sight of my children sitting among some of my nieces and nephews near the fireplace. David is sitting on the loveseat with Jesse sitting next to him. Jonah takes a seat next to Madison in his father, James's lap. But the person I'm looking for is sitting in a recliner facing the fireplace. My father-in-law's coloring is almost nonexistent. He's paler than I've ever seen him.

Daniel smiles, "Callie, it's good to see you."

"Well it's always good to see you too, Dan." I chuckle. "I see you got the LVAD afterwards. That's good, no more staying in a hospital bed for you." I smile widely; it's more for my own benefit than theirs. I had known about the LVAD before today. I just didn't know if they knew I had known so I try and play it cool by dropping the topic. "What are all of you guys doing up anyways? It's almost three o'clock in the morning. Shouldn't you all be in bed?"

James chuckles before answering me. "Well some of us have been driving for a while and have children who slept the entire way that are currently like live wires."

David also has two cents to put in. "And some of us have children who just couldn't wait to see their cousins so badly that they kept their parents up all night begging them to take them here."

"I see both of your points." I chuckle slightly before continuing. "So have you guys decided who's sleeping where?"

Rory is quick to answer my question. "Me and Addie are staying in Aunt Ellie's old room with Molly when she gets here that is. Mark and Tommy are staying in Uncle Alex's old room with Jude when he gets here. Eli and Jacob are in Aunt Madison's old room. Uncle Alex and Aunt Leah are staying in the bedroom down here. And you and Mom are in Mom's old room." Rory smiles; it was evident that it was her handy work organizing who was staying where. Rory had a knack for organizing things; she definitely got that from Arizona's and not me. It was also very much like her to leave Arizona's brother, Tommy's room unoccupied. It was just something that was understood in the family even if Tommy had died in Iraq twenty years ago he surely wasn't forgotten and his bedroom was simply left untouched out of respect, the most they ever did was dust off his things occasionally to show that he wasn't forgotten.

"Well that works well." I say with a smile before hearing the creak of the stairs leading down into the basement behind me.

Ellie and Elizabeth enter my peripheral vision but no Arizona. Elizabeth walks over towards Dan as I feel Ellie's hand on my arm. "She wants to talk to you. Upstairs." Ellie whispers quietly in my ear before taking a seat on David's lap.

"If you'll excuse me." I say quickly with a forced smile. I don't wait for a response from them as I swiftly make my way upstairs to her room.

* * *

I stop at her bedroom doorway finding her sitting on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands. Her blond curls are glowing with help from the only light in the room; the Oregon moon. I slowly make my way into the room and take a seat next to her on the bed. "Arizona, I," I stop speaking as she creeps farther away from me.

"You knew. You knew and you didn't tell me. I'm so confused. Why didn't you tell me? Is my father just a case to you now? A case that strikes a nerve?" Arizona lifts her head up out of her hands her red brimmed eyes are filled with tears that are streaming down her face. I hate to see her like this.

"Never, Arizona, never. You know better than that, I love your family, our family. I, I just couldn't. I didn't tell you because I couldn't be the person who ripped your hopes away. I just couldn't. I love you too much. I just wanted you to happy as possible until we came here and you could see for yourself." I move closer to her and wrap my arm around her shoulder hoping she wouldn't pull away.

My hopes aren't fulfilled as she hops up off the bed. "And I thought you loved me enough to tell me. If I had to hear this from anyone I would have wanted it to be you! I would have wanted it to be you because I thought you'd be there to pick me up off the floor and hold me. That you'd be the one to tell me that it'd be okay. Not my mother, not my sister but you. You, Calliope, you." She looks me in the eye for a moment before turning away to head out of the room.

She doesn't get very far because my hand instantaneously grabs her and stops her from leaving. My mind now travels to the phone conversation I had with Elizabeth a week prior.

* * *

"_Hello?" I put the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I mix the stir-fry I making for supper. I hear nothing but sniffles and choked sobs as I wait for a reply. "Ari? Arizona, is that you?" _

"_No." It takes me a second to recognize the voice on the other end of the line. _

"_Elizabeth, it's okay. Just breathe okay. Just breathe." I pick the phone up and place it fully on my ear turning off the stove. Supper could wait. _

"_Callie." She stops as if for me to signal I'm still listening. _

"_I'm right here, Elizabeth. It's okay. Just tell me what's wrong?" I look around the room to make sure the kids aren't here before swiftly walking to my office. _

"_It's Dan, Callie. He, he–" Her sobs begin again. It was extremely unlike Arizona's mother to be this emotional, especially with me. _

"_Elizabeth." I pause a moment but receive no reply. "Elizabeth, I need you to listen to me, okay? I need you to tell me what happened to Dan. Can you do that for me?" My voice presents itself as calm and concerned but deep down I'm almost as much of a mess as she is; because if something were to happen to Dan Arizona would be a complete mess, let alone the kids. _

"_Okay. Dan, Dan's in the hospital. The doctor's said something about viral cardiomyopathy and something machine called an L-vat." _

_This isn't good. This definitely isn't good. I realize that I haven't spoken for a moment. Say something, Callie, damn it. "Okay, the machine is called and LVAD. It'll help pump the blood so that he go home. If you have any questions about it just ask the doctor and they'll explain everything to you okay, all you have to do is ask. We're all coming down for Dan's birthday so we'll talk more about this then and we'll help you with anything you need okay, Elizabeth. I'm sorry Arizona isn't home right now but I'll tell her to call you." _

"_That won't be necessary, Callie. I just needed someone to calm me down, someone who happened to be a doctor, in this case, you. Thank you." Elizabeth laughs slightly as sniffs. _

"_Happy to be of service, Ma'am. Tell Dan I hope he feels better soon. Just call us if you need anything else, okay?" I'm beginning to calm down slightly now. _

"_I will do that. Thank you again, Callie. We both can't wait to see you, Arizona, and the kids when you all come down. See you soon." Elizabeth's voice is the calmest it's been since the beginning of this phone call. _

"_You're welcome, Elizabeth. Talk to you again soon." I say before hearing the infamous click of the receiver ending the call. _

_I slowly hang up the phone. My mind begins to race again. What do I say to Arizona? How can I tell her this? Do I tell her at all or wait until we go to Oregon? I just can't. I can't be the one to do this to her. I can't._

* * *

"Arizona. Don't do this. I'm right here." I push myself up off the bed with my other hand before closing the space between us. I wrap my arm around her waist before letting go of her hand to wipe the tears off her face.

Arizona's eyes are focused on mine as if she's trying to read my thoughts. "I, I." She can't even finish her sentence. I can tell how much shock she is in and I need to make her realize that if there's only going to be one constant thing in her life, that thing is going to be me.

"I'm not running, I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." I look straight into the eyes of my wife hoping she'll, no, needing her to understand exactly what I'm trying to say.

We share a quick moment of silence before our interaction is interrupted. Streams of raised voices from downstairs take us from our own little world. "Dad! Grandpa!" Arizona's sky blue eyes widen and her breath hitches. My body's reaction mirrors hers.

"Mom! Arizona! Callie! Help!"

* * *

**Sorry for the cliff hanger again folks but it was just the appropriate place to end this chapter. Please don't hate me, please? :(**

**Hope you guys enjoyed it!  
**

**Reviews are highly welcome and very helpful *hint, hint, wink, wink, nod, nod* ;) **


	3. Apologize

I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story so much, it means a lot! This chapter takes place from Arizona's perspective. It's kind of short but I really wanted to try and explain why Callie did what she did in more detail before getting into anything else. Hope you all enjoy this just as much as you've enjoyed the last two! =D

Two. Apologize

"I need you like a heart needs a beat but that's nothing new."  
- Apologize, OneRepublic

I feel Calliope's arm drop from my waist before I begin to run out of the room, bounding down the stairs with Calliope close on my heels. As we reach the bottom of the stairs and enter the den we find my family swarmed around the recliner chair where my father always sits. I quickly but carefully cut between James and Madison; I can see Calliope continuing to follow me in my peripheral vision.

My father is sitting unresponsive in the recliner. "Rory, what happened?" I ask her because I knew that she is one of the few members of this family that has the ability to stay levelheaded.

I can hear Calliope whisper to Madison to call 911 and for James to get her a small flashlight before Rory begins to speak. I begin to check the LVAD battery packs as I listen. "We just all sitting here having a chat and Grandpa just stopped talking. He tried to talk but nothing came out and his eyelids began to droop."

That's not good, definitely not good. I know what this means but I'm searching for another possibility because this one is simply to hard to face at this moment. The battery packs are charged. I can now see that he's diaphoretic. I place my ear against my father's chest due to not having a stethoscope on hand. His heart rate is dangerously low. I lift my head up as Calliope comes up from behind me and begins to check my father's pupil reactivity. She looks down at me with a concerned look on her face.

"I need to start hand compressions. He's almost bradycardic." I go to lift my hands up to my father's chest but Calliope stops me by taking my hand.

"You shouldn't be the one to do this. Go wait for the EMTs and explain to them everything when they get here okay?" Her eyes meet with mine. She looks at me with the utmost compassion and concern in her eyes.

I know she's right but I have to tear myself away but I manage to stand up as Calliope begins the compressions. "Ellie, Maddie, get the kids upstairs. David, James, get the cars started to we can follow the ambulance. Someone is going to have to stay with the kids and wait for Alex to get here." My voice is wavering by the end of my sentence.

"Mom, I'm not a kid. I'm going with you." Rory's voice echoes through the room breaking my concentration from the list of things I need to do. It wasn't like her to react this way but I can sense the fear in her voice. And the fear, fear can make you do almost anything.

"Rory, you." I begin to tell her that she needs to stay here and make sure that the rest of her siblings, and cousins for that matter, are okay.

"No, Mom. I'm going with you whether you." She doesn't get to finish her sentence either.

"Aurora Carolina Robbins!" Calliope voice is loud but it's not filled with what I'd call anger. "This is not the time for this. I know that you're scared. We're all scared. But you need to stay here."

It was so out of character to Calliope to be the levelheaded one in this situation. I was always the one to level the battle field during fights with our children, even especially in fights with each other. But it wasn't unfulfilling to see. It was just what I needed right now because I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Rory doesn't verbally respond, instead she just nods before beginning to usher Jamie, Madison's daughter who was a year younger than her, and Addie upstairs without protest. Mark and Tommy wordlessly and swiftly follow Nate, Madison's eldest son who was the same age as Mark, upstairs as well. Zooey brings up the rear holding onto Jonah's hand as they walk up the stairs behind Jesse.

"I'll stay." James volunteers to stay behind with the kids at the house while the rest of us adults go to the hospital. "The older kids will be able to help me with Jonah and Jesse. We should be fine. Just call and give me updates when you can. When Alex gets here I'll let him know what happened and help him and Leah get the kids settled in. I'm sure he'll be there as soon as he can." He places a hand on Madison's shoulder before ushering upstairs as well.

I notice that the once crowded room is almost empty. All that is left is Ellie, David, my father, my mother, Calliope and I. "Ellie, let's go upstairs and wait for the paramedics. You were there so you can help me explain." I place a hand on her arm. I can feel her tense up slightly.

"I'm sorry, Zona, but I'm not leaving him." Ellie turns her head to look me in the eye. I can see the fear in her eyes, the fear that I'm certain is present in every single person who is in this house's eyes.

"Okay." I simply nod before beginning to head for the stairs to wait for the paramedics. I'm not going to fight her on this. I receive a small sympathetic smile from Calliope before leaving the room and my family behind.

As I reach the foyer I realize how much I need to get out of this house, even if it's just for a moment. I need a break from the chaos. I need my children to not be afraid for their grandfather's life.

I slip on a pair of flip-flops and exit the house shutting the door slowly and silently behind me. I take a seat on the front porch swing which begins to move when I sit down. I stop for a moment to take in the scene around me; the large oak trees along the edge of the yard, the tire swing suspended from one of its branches, my mother's pitiful 'garden' at the edge of the driveway that was filled with weeds due to it's lack of maintenance. As I notice all these things that make up the front yard of my childhood home I let the tears I didn't know I was holding back stream down my face.

Everything was out of my hands now. Sure, I was a doctor but there was nothing I could do to save my father from this; absolutely nothing. All I could do now was wait as my heart broken into hundreds of little pieces.

* * *

What feels like hours later the sound of sirens fill my ears and within seconds the flashing lights of the ambulance can be visible. I quickly sit up off the swing and wipe the tears from my eyes in order to compose myself; I needed to help them not get in the way.

"Ma'am is this the Robbins' residence?" A tall blonde EMT asks as he gets out of the ambulance. His voice is filled with seriousness and his face mirrors his tone.

"Yes, sir. My father is downstairs. I'm a doctor and I've done all I can. He's an LVAD patient, I check the battery packs and they're fine but I believe there are complications with the LVAD and he appears to be having a stroke." My voice is wavering uncontrollably but I get make my point.

"Thank you, Ma'am. My partner and I will do everything we can to help him." He motions to his partner who is on the way to the house with a stretcher.

"Follow me." I quickly open the door to the house and make my way down the stairs to the den. My heart breaks even more at the sight of Calliope continuing the compressions on my father. "Calliope." My voice is whimper as I make my presence known.

The ENT makes his way to Calliope side before speaking. "I'll take over." His voice is firm but I can sense the sympathy.

"He's bradycardic if you don't keep the compressions going." Calliope moves her hands as the ENT moves his hands forward. "Sorry, I'm a doctor."

"I understand Ma'am. I just need you to stand back so we can move 're taking him to Providence Willamette Falls where we can assess him better. But I do believe you're correct, his is having a stroke. We'll have the neurologist and cardiothoracic surgeon meet us in the ER so he will be in extremely good hands." He says as he and his partner lift my father onto a stretcher. "When did the incident occur?"

"About fifteen to twenty minutes ago." Calliope replies as she takes her place next to me, wrapping her arm around my waist for support. I can't help but grab her hand in response. I need Calliope to hold me and tell me that everything is going to be okay. I need her.

"Okay, thank you." The other EMT says quietly as these two strangers lift the stretcher up the stairs, holding my father's life in their hands.

* * *

The drive from the house to the hospital was turning out to be more awkward than I thought it would be. Madison had opted to get a ride with Ellie and David along with my mother. The issue of Calliope not telling me about my father seems to be the pink elephant in the room, figuratively speaking. I can't help myself, I bring it up.

"Why didn't you tell me? I know that this isn't the best time to talk about this and that you already gave me somewhat of an answer. But to me it was someone of an excuse, not an answer." I hang my head as I look out the passenger door window. I can't bring myself to look at her right now, no matter how much I need her.

Calliope sighs in response before taking my hand in hers and begins to answer me. "I understand that it may seem like an excuse but it's exactly why I didn't tell you. It may seem selfish but it's true. I couldn't be the one to tell you about your father because, you know the phrase 'don't shoot the messenger'?"

I simply nod slightly in response. By the tone of her voice I can tell how much she's hurting, it may not be her father on the way to the hospital right now but it might as well have been. I can hear her sniffle slightly before she continues to answer my question.

"I didn't want that situation to happen. Even if your father's condition getting worse wasn't my fault I felt that if I was the one to tell you, you would react like it was. I just couldn't bear to see you look at me like that. I just couldn't. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. It may have seemed to be the best thing to do at the time but now I can obviously see that it was stupid, extremely stupid and moronic of me to do that. I'm sorry. You have no idea have sorry I am." She lifts my hand to her lips and places a sweet kiss on the back of my hand.

"At this point, I just wanted to know why. I just wanted understand the logic behind why you did it. I'm not upset anymore, there's no way to go back and change it." I squeeze her hand to reassure her that I'm not angry and that I still love her.

"Do you remember after we went to Naomi for the first time before we got married? And we got a message on the machine from her telling us to call her. Do you remember?" Calliope clears her throat as she waits for my reply before bringing our hands back down slightly above the gear shift resting on the center console.

"I remember." My voice could almost be considered a whisper.

How could I forget? I could remember every detail of that night. I remember coming home to find Calliope tossing and turning in our bed having a nightmare. I can still remember holding her as she cried herself to sleep. The images haunted my rare nightmares.

"This is something like that. Remember how I couldn't tell you what was wrong? I had just looked over at the answering machine hoping you'd get the point. I couldn't be the one to tell you about Naomi's message. I couldn't bring myself to be the one to put that look on your face. I couldn't be the one to make you feel like that. I couldn't tear your hopes away."

I take the time to look over at Calliope. Her cheeks are now lines with tear streams flowing down her face. "Calliope." I say trying to get her to look at me but she stubbornly keeps her eyes on the road. "Calliope." I try once more but still no reply; just as it was that night almost twenty years ago. "Callie. Look. At. Me."

Her russet brown eyes meet my contrasting sky blue eyes. They are filled with tears that I'm surprised aren't blurring her vision. "I'm sorry."

I take my other hand and fully enclose Calliope's hand between my own two. "I love you." I sigh contently. "I love you and that's what matters. We all make mistakes and I don't need you to be sorry. I just need you to be here with me because I love you and I need you. I need you, not you trying to make up for your mistake. Just be here with me because I need you now more than ever."


	4. AN Cheat Sheet

Hey guys I've noticed a bit of confusion about the large number of kids in this story so I decided to make a cheat sheet for you guys for when you get confused. I really hope that it helps! Thanks for all your feedback and support! =D

Daniel Robbins & Elizabeth Robbins  
- Alex Robbins  
- Tommy Robbins  
- Madison Robbins  
- **Arizona** Robbins  
- Ellie Robbins

Alex Robbins & Leah Robbins  
- Molly, 17  
- Jude, 16  
- Eli, 12  
- Jacob, 11

Tommy Robbins – Arizona's brother who died in Iraq

Madison Robbins & James  
- Nate, 17  
- Jamie, 16 (Jamie's a girl just in case you got confused on that)  
- Jonah, 7

**Arizona Robbins & Calliope Robbins  
- ****Rory, 17  
- ****Mark, 16  
- ****Tommy, 15  
- ****Addie, 15**

Ellie Robbins & David  
- Zooey, 15  
- Jesse, 12

Again I hope this helps :)


	5. Tonight

Sorry this chapter is late, real life and a bad case of writer's block got in the way -_-' I'm glad to hear you guys have been enjoying the story and that the cheat sheet helped! I'm actually amazed at how great this story is coming along (Y) This chapter takes places from both Callie's and _Arizona's_ point of view. And the flashback in this chapter is in **bold**. I hope that doesn't confuse anyone! I hope you guys enjoy! =D

Three. Tonight

"If my heart is full of sorrow, I'll call out for you."  
- Tonight, Emy Reynolds

Sitting in the waiting room as a doctor felt awkward to say the least. The little time I spent in the waiting rooms back in Seattle was to deliver good news and all too often the unbearable too. But right now there wasn't any news at all.

Arizona and I have been sitting in the waiting room at Providence Willamette Falls hospital for the past half an hour with any news. I'm sitting with my arm around Arizona's shoulder holding her close as we watch David pace the room and Ellie & Madison help Elizabeth fill out patient forms.

I scan the room to search for any sign of doctors who appear to be coming our way. My scan immediately stops at the sight of a doctor standing at a nurses' station just outside the glass wall of the waiting room. I'd recognize the profile anywhere even if I haven't seen it in years. They are approached by a brown hair man who was the doctor who had been in the ER when Arizona's father was brought in. I begin to rub Arizona's should with my thumb to try and calm myself down as the two doctors being to walk towards us. This wasn't the time to be getting uptight.

"Mrs. Robbins. I'm Dr. Fields, the neurologist on your husband's case." The doctor who had been in the ER scans our group for a moment before sticking his hand out to shake Elizabeth's'.

I change my gaze to the face that had left me broken in Seattle Grace parking lot all those years ago. She looks at me for a moment curiously before a look of realization crosses her face. She still looks the same. Her hair may be slightly light and less wavy but her features are still the same though her piercing blue eyes some how seemed less cold.

"And this is the cardiothoracic surgeon who will be on his case as well, Dr." He continues put I cut him off involuntarily, making him unable to finish his sentence.

"Dr. Hahn. Erica." I nod my head as I feel Arizona place a hand on my knee as if to calm me down and ensure me that I'm alright. "I'm glad to know you're going to be the surgeon on Dan's case." I give her the best smile I can muster trying to hide the awkwardness I know if bound to follow this.

"Long time no see, Cal." Erica says calmly before giving me a smile that seems completely genuine. It's a hell of a lot more than I expected from her.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Elizabeth give Arizona a look before opening her mouth to ask about Erica. She quickly shuts it again due to Arizona subtlety shaking her head signaling her to stop. I notice a look of curiosity and raised eyebrows between Ellie, David, and Madison.

"As I was saying we will be the two main doctors on your husband's case." Dr. Fields begins to continue talking to Elizabeth. "Your husband had an embolic ischemic stroke of a thromoboembolism, which is a blood clot. He is a high risk patient due to his LVAD and the fact he went into A-Fib when he was brought in."

The more I heard from Dr. Fields the less comfortable I get. Every word he says eggs on my fears; confirms the worst.

"I just began administering tPA, which will help break down the clot which will allow blood to flow freely to your husband's brain." Dr. Fields finishes. I can't help but thank God that this guy seems to know what he's doing.

Erica takes Dr. Fields silence as a queue for her to begin. "I will be hooking Mr. Robbins up to non-mobile LVAD in a few moments and removing the one that he currently has until he has regained enough strength to go home. Then another cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Berry, will we replace it with a mobile LVAD so he can go home"

I'm confused by Erica statement. She was supposed to be the cardio surgeon on Dan's case yet another doctor would be replacing his LVAD.

"You won't performing the procedure yourself, Dr. Hahn?" David takes it upon himself ask. This makes me sure that I'm not the only one confused.

"No, sir. Dr. Berry will be the surgeon on Mr. Robbins' case next week because I'm transferring to another hospital out of personal obligation. I assure you, sir, that Dr. Berry is a fine surgeon and will not take the case lightly in any way." Erica nods slightly as if she's trying to make a guarantee.

Elizabeth gives Arizona another look as if to ask if it's okay. Arizona nods slightly. "Well thank you, Dr. Hahn for taking the time to take my husband's case before you leave. Providence Willamette Falls will be losing a great surgeon, I assure you." Elizabeth smiles at Erica now for the first time.

"Thank you, Mrs. Robbins. No problem at all. I'm about to go check on Mr. Robbins but after that you all may go up and see him. Unfortunately hospital policy only allows four visitors at a time so two of you will have to wait outside. I apologize for the inconvenience."

At Erica's words I know for sure she's changed. The Erica Hahn I knew never had the word apologize or any word to do with being sorry in her vocabulary. And she sure as hell never apologized herself.

"Dr. Hahn and I will be going to check your husband now, ma'am but we will have a nurse come get you when you are able to see him. If you have any questions or concerns please as a nurse on the floor to page either Dr. Hahn or myself and we will respond as soon as we can." Dr. Fields takes the chart I only now notice Erica is holding from her before making his way out of the waiting room, being followed by Erica who surprisingly gives me a quick smile before making her exit.

I can see Ellie, David, and Madison begin to give each other looks again just as they did when I first announced I knew Erica. Elizabeth continues to look to Arizona for some sort of answer.

"So you know Dr. Hahn, huh Callie?" Ellie is the one to finally break the silence.

"Yeah, Erica and I go way back." I reply still leaving questions hanging in the air.

I can't see Arizona's face but I'm assuming her expression is telling Ellie to say nothing more. My assumptions are confirmed by the slight squeeze of Arizona's hand on my knee. I need to clear this up because I can't stand to see Arizona acting this way for much longer. She shouldn't be worrying about me right now, not if her father is in the hospital still fighting for his life.

I lean into Arizona's body more, almost burying myself in her hair. "I'm fine. I promise." I whisper in her ear. I know she'll think I'm lying but right now I'm anything but lying. Seeing Erica after all this time may have shocked me at first but right now in this moment all I'm worried about is my father-in-law, my wife, and my children; my family. Not a woman I barely know.

* * *

_Calliope and I had decided to let the other see my father first. I had decided that this would be a good time to talk away from everyone else. Calliope was standing outside my father's room looking in through the glass window that made up a quarter of the wall. "Calliope?" I take her hand in mine and begin to rub my thumb on the back of her hand. It was one of those things that I did that loved though she'd never admit it. _

"_What? Sorry, you said something." Calliope turns her head slightly so that she's now looking at me. _

"_I was going to ask if you were okay." I give her the best smile I can muster at the moment trying to get her to open up to me. _

"_I'm fine, Arizona." She simply replies before changing her gaze. She looks down at the vending machine that down the hall. _

"_Calliope, you're not fine." I know that if I don't get this out of her now I won't later. _

"_That's the thing, I am. I am perfectly fine except for the fact my father-in-law is in the hospital and I'm worried about my wife and children. Besides for that I'm fine." She looks back at me again; her eyes straight into mine. _

"_Nothing to do with the fact that my father's doctor just happens to be Erica Hahn?" I press her now because with Calliope it's like tug-a-war; you pull, she pulls back. You've got to draw it out of her. I've had this experience more times than I can count._

* * *

"**What is up with you today?" I ask Calliope as I take a seat on the kitchen counter watching her cook. **

"**Nothing, I'm fine." I can tell I've struck a nerve because she begins chopping peppers with even more force than she had before. **

**She had been giving me this routine all day. One minute she was acting perfectly fine then once someone mentioned anything that had to deal with the baby, her family, or mine her mood did an almost complete one eighty. **

"**No, you're not okay. Don't lie to me, I know you better than you think I do." I keep pressing her. **

"**Arizona, just drop it okay?" She says as she begins to furiously chop onions to go with the peppers.**

"**No," I hop down off the counter and cross the room so that I'm standing in front of the sink next to her. "No, I will not drop it. I won't drop it because something's bothering you and you shouldn't have to bottle it all up, Calliope. You know that." **

"**Arizona, I don't want to talk about it okay?" She finally looks at me; her russet brown eyes are filled with anger and anxious. I can see it slowly eating away at her. **

"**Okay, Calliope. I'll let it go." I place my hand on her arm for a moment before turning around to get the wine. **

**As I pull the bottle out of cooler I hear her slam the knife down on the counter top. "Damn it, Arizona." She picks up the dish cloth and wipes her hands before turning around leaning back against the counter. I put the bottle of red wine on the counter and look her in the eye.**

**Her eyes are now brimmed with tears. I can't tell if it's because of the onions or because of what's bothering her. **

"**Just let it out." **

"**Our first son's name isn't going to be named Tommy." Her voice is calmer than I expected but her admission catches me vastly off guard. She begins to shake her head before putting it in her hands. **

**I automatically place my hand on my hip before I verbally react. "Why wouldn't our son be named Tommy? We've been talking about baby names ever since we found out we were having a boy. We agreed that we'd name him Tom after my brother. We named after your mom so now we'd him after my brother." My voice is laced with anger and confusion. "We agreed,"**

"**No, we didn't. You and your mother agreed. That probably just made me sound like an insensitive idiot but you know m, the mouth moves before the brain explains. I didn't explain it to you." She now takes the time to look up at me. Her bold brown eyes meet my sky blue irises, they may be opposite of each other but are ever so complementary. **

"**Explain it too me, then." I'm highly curious at her reasoning behind her words.**

"**Our first son isn't going to be named Tommy, it's a family thing, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but you were so happy when you found out we were having a boy because you'd get to name him after your brother. But after hearing about it for the past two weeks I can't hold it in any longer. There's a, I guess you could call it a rule, in my family. The rule is that you can't name a child who doesn't plan on being your last child after someone who had passed away. It's a superstition, not rule really, but we all follow it by any means."**

"**But why?" I can't help but raise my eyebrow slightly. I've never known Calliope to be the superstitious type but this definitely has struck a nerve.**

"**It's bad luck. Every one in my family who has ever done it has either lost a child or was unable to have anymore children after the child in question was born." She runs her fingers through her hair before tucking a few strands behind her ears. "And I don't want that to happen to us." Calliope looks me in the eye again now. She looks like a teenage girl who's just had her best friend tell her that she's being cheated on.**

**I walk on to over to her wrapping my arms around neck, pulling her close before slowly rubbing my thumb on the base her neck. "And it won't." I smile. "Thank you for telling me."**

**I place my lips softly on hers. Her lips on mine are causing a frenzy to begin and adrenaline to rush through my veins. I try and show her how much I love her, how much I care about what she's thinking by keeping the kiss as chaste as possible without letting the passion behind it becoming obsolete. I can tell that she understands by the feeling of her hands on my hips for a moment before wrapping her arms completely around my waist.**

**As I pull away a smiles forms on Calliope's face as she sniffles. "You understand right?" I nod slightly because I do understand, I do. "I promise, our last child we'll name after you brother, I promise." I expect her to go off in classic Calliope fashion and begin rambling. But I'm pleasantly surprised at the sensation of her lips on mine once more even if it's only for a few moments. **

"**I love you." I smile widely showing off my dimples fully knowing that it's bound to make Calliope smile again.**

"**I love you too, Arizona. So are we okay now?" She asks somewhat sheepishly. **

"**We're more than okay." I can't help but giggle slightly because right now I know that she'll keep her promise, no matter how long it takes, because she's my Calliope and she'll do whatever it takes to make me happy. And I love her for it.**

* * *

"_No, Erica Hahn has nothing to do with this. I promise you. All I'm concerned about now is you, the kids, and your family, our family. If I need you I promise you I'll let you know. Erica," Calliope replies but she is cut of mid sentence. _

"_Sorry, were you trying to get my attention?" Erica walks over to Calliope and me from the nurses' station from across the hall. I hadn't noticed her at the nurses' station until now. _

_Calliope thinks fast on her feet and begins to start up a conversation with Erica, but not before signaling she's is in fact okay be squeezing my hand. "Yes, I know it's not your specialty but I was wondering if you knew how the tPA was going?" _

_As if on cue loud beeping begins sound from my father's room. The look of shock on my mother's face is more than enough for me to know that something definitely is not right, definitely not right in the slightest. _


	6. World Spins Madly On

I've really glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter (Y) This chapter is written from Callie's point of view, the _italics is a voice over,__** and the bold is a flashback.**_ And **luvlexi714**, this chapter does have a lot more Arizona/Callie/Erica interaction, so I hope that doesn't disappoint. I really hope you guys like it! (:

Four. World Spins Madly On

"Thought of you and where you'd gone,  
And the world spins madly on."  
- World Spins Madly On, The Weepies

"_Cowards die many times before their death," Shakespeare may have wrote those words hundreds of year ago long before our society's time __and customs existed but he did have a point. If we spend our time being anxious over death, the inevitable, we die more than once. We die every time we miss an experience because of our fear. Shakespeare continued on with "The valiant never taste death but once." And there is where the lesson lies. We have to lean into the fear and live. We have to live valiantly so that when death does come, we have no regrets. _

I feel Arizona's grip on my hand instantly disappears with the sound of the monitors beeping echoing through the hall. Her blonde hair is only a flash as she runs into her father's room. Erica quickly follows behind her. Yet somehow my feet hare anchored to hallway floor. I watch my wife of almost twenty years rush to her dying father's beside and I'm stuck here. It is as if the world stopped spinning, as if time has stopped. But in reality it hasn't.

In reality, time is never ending and the world keeps spinning never stopping even for a moment. Even if it feels like everything is coming to an end it keeps going on. It keeps going on because you're not the only person in the world feeling this way. And you have to fight it. You have to give into the fear and the pain and just keep going.

I begin putting one foot in front of the other and make my way into Dan's room. I look over at the monitor which is showing a flat line. I see Erica press the code blue button out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head to see Arizona holding onto her father's hand, "Daddy, don't do this. Please, don't do this." she manages to say before she begins to break down into sobs.

I'm able to catch her, wrapping my arms around her waist, as her legs begin to fail her coming dangerously close to crumple beneath her. "I got you. I'm right here." I gently pull her to her feet. The sound of her sobs is echoing the room is pulling at my heart strings making it extremely hard for me to keep composed. "I'm not letting go." I whisper into her ear. "Arizona we need to move so they can do their job."

I slowly back up moving her along with me as I hear the sound of sneakers squeaking against the hallway floor. "I don't want to let go." Arizona says breathlessly as the code team enters the doorway.

"I know, honey, I know but we have to." I kiss the top of her head as she reluctantly lets go of her father's hand. I take her now empty hand and lead her out of the room.

"I can't, I can't." Arizona barely gets these few words out and is unable to finish her sentence. But she doesn't have to because I know exactly what she's thinking.

"Don't say it, Ari. It's not over yet. We don't know what going to happen. Don't give up hope yet." I look her straight in the eye, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Don't let go."

Arizona buries her head into the crook of my neck, gripping onto my shirt. I wrap my arms around her, cradling her in arms, fully knowing that there's nothing I can do to stop this from happening. The difference between life and death is out of my hands.

A few moments later Erica walks of out my father in law's room. The look of defeat on her face says it all; the worst has been reality. She gives me a look of sympathy before beginning to speak. "Cal, I'm sorry. We did everything we could but he had a rare reaction to the tPA that was impossible to predict. I'm really sorry for your loss."

Arizona looks up at Erica now for the first time. "Thank you, Dr. Hahn. I, I" Arizona tries to speak but she can't finish.

"It's a lot to digest I know, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for your loss and for before. I know it was years ago but still sorry, to the both of you."

Today wasn't the first time Erica had met Arizona. A few years after she had left Seattle Grace Erica had returned to do a case after being convinced by the chief to take it. Of course, this case happened to be a pediatrics case where she had to work with Arizona. But back then she was still the Erica Hahn that was rude and just happened to ask Arizona who the hell she was after Arizona who had been slightly cold with her. But it was behind us.

"Its okay, Erica, but thank you." I give her the best smile I can muster, as I slightly tighten my grip on Arizona continuing to try and comfort her.

"If there's anything you two need just page me and I'll do what I can. There's a coffee station in the attendings' lounge if you need some caffeine or anything if anyone questions why you're there just tell them I said it was fine for you to me there. Just have a nurse page me if you need me. Again, I'm sorry. Cal, Arizona." Erica nods then smiles sympathetically before slowly backing away and disappearing around the corner.

"I'm so sorry, honey." I place a kiss on Arizona's temple as the tears that I didn't know I was holding back begin to trickle out of my eyes and stream down my cheek. "Is there anything you need?"

"I just need you to hold me. Please?" She looks up at me, sorrow seeping from her sky blue eyes.

"I can do that."

* * *

"How is he?" A breath taken Alex enters the doorway. He leans against the door frame for a moment before realizing what has happened.

I can't get over how much my son, Mark, looks like Arizona's brother. Alex himself looks like a male version of Arizona. His blonde short hair and the hair of my son are almost one in the same. They share their most prominent features; their eyes, dimples, and smiles. Normally I would find this endearing but right now I wish he didn't, oh how I wish he didn't. I wish my son wasn't a spitting image of his uncle because I never wanted to see the look on my brother-in-law's face on the face of Mark, or any of my children or Arizona for that matter.

Alex's eyes are beginning to fill with tears which are highly out of character for him. Alex was the typical big brother. He was protective over his family; his wife, his children, his siblings, especially Arizona. I remember hearing numerous stories about how Alex was the one who defended Arizona at every new high school they went to. How he stood by Arizona's side and helped her when turmoil took over when the other students realized she was gay. He was even a strong man back then but right now in this moment he looks like a young boy whose dog has just died.

Alex walks over to the bed pulling a chair behind him. As he sits down he takes the lifeless hand of Colonel Daniel Robbins, his father, one of the best men I've ever known; the man who raised my wife to be a good man in a storm. And for that I'd be eternally grateful.

I look over at Arizona who is staring at her brother. I can tell she's think the same thing I am. She's comparing Alex's features to those of my son, her eyes tracing their identical features. After a few moments Arizona looks up at me, her eyes filled with tears. "How are we going to tell them?"

She doesn't need to explain who she means by them because I instantly know who she's talking about. Our children. And the truth is right now I don't know the answer. Instead of answering her I take her hand in mine. "Let's go get some coffee, we'll figure it out soon enough, Ari." I give her the best look of assurance I can.

She wipes the tears from her eyes with her other hand before answering me. "Okay." She stands up from the chair she's sitting in and I quickly follow suit.

As we're almost out the door Arizona stops. She lets go of my hand, turning away from me. I'm about to enquire what she's doing but I realize before the words are even out of my mouth. Arizona lays a hand on Alex's shoulder. "I'm sorry you weren't here. I'm so sorry." She bends down and places a kiss on her brother's cheek. She rubs Alex shoulder before walking slowly to me. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and usher her out the door, praying that we'll all be okay after this.

* * *

As we enter the attendings' lounge I notice one of the couches next to the coffee station is partly occupied. Erica Hahn is staring into a coffee cup, a look of sorrow in her eyes. I look over at Arizona to see her reaction and to see if she wanted to continue any farther into the room. She looks at me at nearly the exact moment and nods, signaling that she doesn't have a problem with continuing to enter the room.

Stepping further into the room causes Erica to look up from her coffee cup. She gives us a look of slight shock before starting to stand up. "I'll just get out of your hair."

"Its okay, Erica. There's no need for you to leave." Arizona gives Erica her the best smile she can, which I can see is genuine.

"Thanks." Erica replies sheepishly as she sits back down on the navy blue couch.

Arizona begins to walk towards the coffee cart, "Go sit down, I know how you like it." Arizona gives me an encouraging smile.

I carefully take a seat on the other navy couch across from Erica as she takes a sip of her coffee rather than just staring at it. It is only then that I notice the gold band on Erica left ring finger. "I see you're a member of the club now too." I smile trying to get to know the Erica Hahn that replaced the one I used to know.

She obviously doesn't know what I mean considering a quizzical look crosses her face. "Excuse me?"

I can hear Arizona chuckle slightly behind me. I can't help but smile again. "I meant that you're married now." I chuckle at the relief that instantly floods Erica's face.

"Oh, that's what you meant. How did you expect me to have a sweet clue what you were talking about, Cal?" Erica smiles before taking another sip of her coffee.

It's strange to see her acting so civil with me, it's just as if we had only ever been friends and her leaving in me the parking lot had never happened. It was highly unlikely that this was going to happen but now that it's happening I can't deny that I missed Erica, as a friend.

"Yes, I did get married, why are you so surprised?" Erica chuckles as she places her now empty coffee cup on the coffee table that is between us.

"Well the Erica Hahn I knew thought that marriage was for people who wanted to be slaves to their significant others." I roll my eyes as I feel Arizona take a next to me. She hands me my black three sugars coffee before blowing on her own and taking a sip.

"Well that version of me is long gone, even though I do have my sarcastic moments every once in a while. I've grown a lot since then." Erica sits back on the couch making herself more comfortable. I can tell she's becoming calmer around Arizona considering out their past interactions.

"How long have you two been together?" Arizona asks trying to continue friendly conversation.

"Jules and I have been together seventeen year and married for sixteen." Erica smiles a full blown smile after speaking this time.

"Well considering you change, and got married did kids ever become part of that equation?" I'm purely curious because Erica had never seemed to be the type to have children. She was okay with her patients but had never done more than necessary to explain things to them so they wouldn't panic she had left all the 'baby sitting', as she had once put it, to the residents.

Erica laughs; I can tell her sense of humor hasn't changed much even if she has. "Surprisingly they did. We've got two. I'm assuming the two of you have kids, I could tell just by the look on your face when you ask Cal. How-" She is unable to finish answering the question as her pager begins to go off, vibrating atop the coffee table. "And that's all the time we have on the Dr. Hahn show." Erica laughs as she picks up her pager. "It's a 911. Sorry we didn't get talk to more. It was great to see you again, both of you. Again, I'm sorry for you loss." Erica smiles before swiftly grabbing her coffee cup and tossing it in the garbage can as she runs out the door.

I look over at Arizona who is putting her cup on the table. She looks up at me; her blue eyes are now mirroring an overcast sky. I can tell bringing up the kids has got her back to thinking how we're supposed to tell them. "You know what I'm going to ask don't you?"

I put my half empty coffee cup down next to hers. "Yes." I lean back on the couch, wrapping my arm around her shoulder, leading her back with me so that her head rests on my chest. As our bodies come in contact I can feel hers begin to shake as she tries to hold in her sobs. "And I know the answer now."

"You do?" her voice is quite now while I run my fingers affectionately through her beautiful light blonde hair.

"I do." I say as I tuck a few strands of Arizona's hair behind her ear my fingers come in contact with Arizona's soft skin for a moment until it meets a sporadic scar. The memory of why the scar was formed begins to play out in my mind.

* * *

_**"Are you serious, Arizona? You seriously don't know how?" I'm trying so hard not to laugh. The whole thought of this being true is completely ridiculous to me. **_

"_**Yes, Calliope, I'm serious." Arizona gives me a stern look as she slaps me playfully on the arm. **_

"_**I can't get over how Arizona Robbins, queen of the peds wing doesn't know how to ride a bike. What the heck did you do as a kid? Play cards with your grandma?" I finally chuckle because I can't hold in my laughter any longer. **_

"_**It's not funny. I did things. I was more of a hiking, mountain climbing, soccer playing type of a girl. Biking just wasn't my thing." Arizona puts her hand atop of mine which is pushing the stroller in which Tommy and Addie were sitting in. We had dropped Rory and little Mark at Mark and Lexie's house for a play date but we decided it would be a great time for us to have some alone time with the twins. **_

"_**Well, I'm going to teach you. And no, we're not starting off on training wheels either." I can't help but laugh at the thought. **_

"_**Calliope, I'm never going to need to know how to ride a bike." She replies stubbornly.**_

"_**Yes, you are. What's going to happen when the kids get a bit older and they want to learn how to ride a bike and I'm working so I can't teach them, huh? They're going to be asking why you can't teach them. Do you want to have to deal with the embarrassment of telling your children that you can't ride a bike and that's why you can't teach them? Do you really want to do that?" I know exactly how get her to give in. I don't want her to miss out on this experience; this is one of the experiences I can give to her.**_

"_**Fine, but if I'm hurt in any way and stitches because of this Mark's going to be the one to do them, not you." With this statement Arizona jinxed herself. She had managed to trip over her own feet giving us a trip back to Mark's house a lot soon than we'd like.**_

* * *

"Calliope?" Arizona's voice is full of concern.

"Sorry, Ari. I was just remembering you trip over your own feet and getting this." I place a soft kiss on the scar near her hair line.

"Okay." Her voice has gone quiet again, signaling she's beginning to worry about telling the kids again.

"We're going to tell them that your father lived a good life because he did. He got to be an amazing father and grandfather. He experienced the majority of this of the things the world had to offer. He didn't let his fears stop him from living. Because if you don't move on the world will go on without you. And he taught that lessons to his children, to you, and we taught that to them. So he lives on in our experiences and he's proud of them, he may not be here to say that but that doesn't mean it's not true. We'll tell them to live valiantly, to make him even more proudly, and follow in his footsteps."

Arizona sits up and turns to face me. "Since when are you so good with words?" She says placing her hand on my cheek. "It's perfect."

"I wouldn't say perfect but–" I don't get a chance to finish my sentence as Arizona's lips find my own.

"Don't ever die on me." Her eyes are beginning to fill with tears once again.

"I'll do my best not to." I kiss her forehead pulling her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her protectively.

"I love you, Calliope Iphigenia Robbins." At her words blood rushes to my cheeks, even after all these years it still makes me blush.

"I love you too, Arizona Amelia Robbins."


	7. Memory

I apologize for being late, this chapter was fairly emotional to write and having writer's block didn't help matters much. I'm glad the last chapter didn't disappoint (Y) This chapter takes place from Arizona's perspective, _**bold is flashback!**_ You know that you have to feel worse before you can feel better but I hope you all enjoy! I would love to get some feedback on this chapter because I'm slightly worried about it.

Five. Memory

"We could fall apart, and I'd be your memory."

Memory, Sugarcult

Walking into my parent's house, "No, it's not my parent's house anymore it's my mother's house." I mentally correct myself, felt surreal. The silence echoing through out the house brings me back to my nightmares. After my brother had died they had changed and become more vivid.

I would walk though my silent childhood home, the furniture would all be replaced with tiny coffins except for one. As soon as I would make my way up the main stairs his bedroom door would always be open. And there it was; an adult size coffin draped with the American flag. I would always manage to get through the doorway before I woke up screaming.

"Arizona." I'm shaken out of my reverie by the feeling of Calliope's arm grazing against my own as she takes hold of my hand. "I'm right here. We can do this."

Looking into her warm russet eyes I can see the sincerity and love that is also clear in her voice. I can feel the tears beginning to form in my own. Hearing the door shut behind me signals that my mother, my brother, two sisters, and my brother in law have entered the house.

I turn around to find Alex with his arm around my slightly sobbing mother. This image brings me back to that unbearable day in the airplane hangar. My father is holding onto my sobbing mother to keep her from collapsing to the ground. All my siblings have someone to hold them; all of them had someone except me. My girlfriend at that time couldn't handle me turning into an emotion wreck. She ran, becoming my ex-girlfriend, at the first sign of trouble. But today was different; today I had someone to hold me while I cried and my mother didn't have the man who loyally stood by her for over fifty years, my father.

"It's hard, I know. I may not know what it's like to lose a parent but I do know what it's like to lose one of the people who keep your feet on the ground." The image of Erica Hahn walking away from Calliope crosses my mind, causing my stomach to churn.

She gets to say no more as Alex's wife, Leah, enters the room from the main stairs. The small sympathetic smile that was on her face disappears as she comes to the realization of what has happened by the looks on all of our faces. She continues down the stars, giving a hug to Madison, before making her way over to mother and Alex. She pulls my mother into a hug before speaking.

Leah looks over at Calliope and me. "Almost all of the kids are asleep. Arizona, only Rory, Mark, and Tommy are awake, Addie fell asleep in Mark's lap earlier."

That's all I needed to hear. "Where are they?" I try and keep my voice as calm as possible but somehow it cracks at the end of my words.

"Rory convinced them to go upstairs to your room." I can hear the sympathy in Leah's voice as she gives me a smile sad smile. I only now notice the tears that are forming in her eyes.

"Thank you, Leah." Calliope says softly as she begins to usher me upstairs.

I'm thankful Calliope is leading me because I know if it was solely up to me I wouldn't be able to move. My feet would be concreted to the hardwood foyer floor. As I put one foot in front of the other I slowly pull myself together knowing that this is about to be the hardest thing I've ever done.

As we finally reach my childhood bedroom doorway the sight of Addie in Mark's lap her arms draped loosely around his shoulders. This position of my youngest daughter and eldest son brings back memories instantly.

* * *

_**Walking down the halls I tried desperately high my head held high. I had told myself that this time I wasn't going to let it affect me. **_

"_**I am who I am. Nothing's going to change that, it doesn't matter what they think. I know who I am, over half of them don't even know who they are themselves, let alone who I am. It doesn't matter."**_

_**I mentally try to give myself a pep talk but the obvious whispers and awkward stares are too detrimental. I keep walking, feeling the tears beginning to form in my eyes, I fight them back as hard as I can; fully knowing that there's nothing I can do to stop them completely, only slow them down. **_

_**As I walk further and faster down the hallways it is as I am parting the sea. No one stands directly around me they quickly move out of my way, giving me more awkward looks and extremely rare looks of sympathy. **_

_**Coming closer to the set of emergency stairs leading out of the school I see an all familiar face. At first he smiles like he always does, his dimples become present only for a moment as he realizes that I am not smile back. My eldest brother's smile fades as I continue to walk past him. **_

_**Thankfully this school didn't have alarms on emergency exits so I swiftly made my way to the empty staircase without drawing more attention to myself. I continue down the flight of stairs leading out of the school. Midway down the second flight I hear the door open behind me and Alex call out for me to stop. Even if my heart was telling me that stopping was a rational idea my feet kept on going, never stopping until I reach the bottom of the staircase. I attempt to hide like a child playing hide and seek under the stairs, leaning against the wall trying to control the sobs that have now begun to take over my body.**_

_**My attempt to hide is futile. Alex doesn't exit the school to run after me as I had hoped. He knows me to well not to do that. Instead he slows down as he reaches the last flight of stairs before slightly hesitating as he tucks behind the stairs.**_

_**My vision has now become slightly blurred with tears; his features are only slight incoherent. He sits down on a bench next to me that I hadn't noticed until now. As he sits he taps the spot next to him, signalling for me to follow suit and sit next to him. **_

_**I reluctantly take a seat next to him, as I sit the sob I've been holding capture in my throat escapes creating a strangled cry. I bend over, burying my head in my hands as if in shame.**_

"_**Don't do this, Arizona." I feel his warm bear paw hand on my shoulder. "You're better than this. You're better than hiding in my hands as if in shame. **_

"_**No. No, I'm not. And by the way you're not helping." I manage to spit out. **_

"_**Yes, you are. You proved that your better than this when you decided to be who you are without hiding one of the things that make you 'you' Arizona. So yes, Arizona you are better than this." Alex's voice is firm yet somehow comforting.**_

_**His tone reminds me of my father. It is the same tone my father used when I had sat him and my mother down and told them I didn't like men. My father's response now beings to echo through my mind, "Are you still who I raised you to be?" I am. I am still the same person I've always been except for the fact that I'm now telling people something about myself I never have before. But that doesn't make me a different person, a person who isn't better than hiding in stairwells. I'm a good man in a storm. Always have been and always will be; my sexuality will never affect that. My brother, and my father, was right.**_

"_**You're right." I look up at my brother, wiping the tears from my eyes. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. I don't deserve to wallow in myself pity no matter how much I want to."**_

"_**Exactly, now what do you have next period?" My brother now gives me a classic Robbins smile.**_

"_**Study hall, no wait, I have chemistry." I say with a fake laugh. **_

"_**Okay, so you're going to walk into that chemistry class head held high and show them that I am right." I slap him on the arm. "Hey! What was that for?"**_

"_**That was for tooting your own horn." I give my brother a genuine smile before laughing.**_

"_**Come here you!" Alex pulls me into his lap giving me a bear hug as I wrap my arms around his neck. **_

"_**I don't know what I'd ever do without you big brother. You're going to make some girl very happy one day." I say hopping out of his lap picking my backpack off the ground as I go.**_

_**Alex sits up wearing a proud smile on his face. "So will you, Arizona. Don't forget that okay?"**_

_**I can't help blush. "I won't, Alex." **_

* * *

"Mom?" my memory dissolves as Rory's anxious voice fills the room. All of my children are sitting on my bed.

I look over to Calliope for the help I desperately need. She gives me a look filled with admiration before squeezing my hand for reassurance.

"Mom, is Grandpa okay?" Mark is next to speak. It is rare for him to speak before everyone has spoke; he managed to obtain the quiet gene, which is something he definitely got from Madison, my older sister, they tied for the quietest Robbins in family history most definitely.

I look into my son's eyes. The desperation and anxiety is present in their purest forms. If I looked close enough I could see tears slowly beginning to form. Mark was a strong kid and was definitely the best older brother Addie and Tommy could have asked for but right now he looks just as he had on his third birthday when Calliope and I had failed to bring him to the park due to triage. The look that is on his face right now is the adult version of that same expression, he was no longer my little boy who preferred soccer balls to playing with trucks and couldn't stand having to wait for his Kraft Dinner to be finished.

I can feel Calliope grip on my hand tighten. She's giving me the reassurance that I need whether she knows it or not. I take a deep breath, getting up the nerve to speak. Calliope realizes that I might not even be able to answer him so she begins to answer the question in for me. I only allow her to get his name out before cutting her off, this was something I needed to do; prepared or not. This was for my kids, not for me.

"No, Mark." Tears are now forming in my eyes starting to blur my vision. "No, Grandpa isn't okay." I quickly wipe the tears out of my eyes trying to keep myself composed.

"So when can we go see him at the hospital? Considering by the sounds of it he's not coming home soon. Can we bring him a birthday cake? Get Ma make one? Does that sound like a good idea, or no?" Tommy speaks up beginning to ramble, Calliope right on spot, and then stops realizing he has be rambling causing him to blush slightly.

My face must have given away what I was going to say because Rory gets to the punch before I can even say a word. "Tommy." Her voice is laced with concern and sorrow. I can't help notice her sniffle as she looks over at Tommy.

The tears in my eyes have now become inevitable, they begins to stream down my face as I let go of Calliope's hand and take a seat on the bed with my children. Calliope swiftly follows suit, sitting on the edge of the bed, wrapping her arm around my waist as if to protect me.

"I'm sorry, honey, he's, he's," I had promised myself on the car ride home that I wasn't going to break down in front of them. I promised myself that I'd put on a brave face and be a good man in a storm. But right now that promise means nothing as sobs begin to take over my body.

Calliope let's go of my waist and begins to run her fingers down through my hair trying to comfort me. She clears her throat before beginning to speak. "Your grandfather," She is cut off for the second time in the past five minutes but this time it's not by me. It's Mark.

"Ma, what about Addie?" He motions to his baby sister who is peacefully asleep in his lap.

Calliope looks down at me as if to look for answer to the question I know is running through her head. I simply nod while trying to regain control of myself.

"As much as I hate to do this to her, I'm going to wake her up." Calliope answers Marks question.

"Can't we wait 'til she wakes up? Just so she can get some sleep."

"Mark, I know your heart is in the right place but I can't do that. Doing this once is going to be hard enough on me, let allow your Mom. Okay?" Calliope smiles slightly trying to make him feel better even if it's for a split second.

I wipe my eyes before putting my hands down on the bed. To my own surprise I feel two warm hands place themselves on top of my hand. Look up to find Rory and Tommy looking me straight in the eyes. Their eyes both mirror my own; filled with tears and starting to become slightly bloodshot.

Calliope edges closer to Mark and Addie, "Addie, honey, you've got to wake up now." She runs her fingers through her hair trying to wake her.

"Momma, what time is it?" Addie replies as wipes the sleep from her eyes as Calliope retreats slightly, pulling her finger out of our daughter's hair.

"It's four o'clock, sweetie."

"Then why are you waking me up?" A shocked expression comes across her face as she comes to realization. "Is Grandpa okay?"

"No, sweetie he's not okay."

"He's never going to get to watch me graduate is he?" She's the only one of our children who is able to say something like this. She may have been the youngest but she was the most outspoken. Whenever something was on her mind she said it, blunt honesty.

"No, Addie, he's not going to be there but he's going to see you from heaven. I know it sounds cliché but its true, sweetie." I finally am able to speak. "Do you want to know why it took so long for us to come home?" Addie nods her head as she tightens her hold on Mark. "We couldn't think of what we'd say to you. But eventually your Ma here thought of exactly what to say." I give Calliope the best smile I can.

"Your grandpa was a brave man, a brave man who lived a great life and raised your mother, aunts, and uncles to be amazing people, teaching them life lessons that are important. I need you learn from my mistakes and your grandpa's life. We taught you to face your fears, to move on, to never let what others say and think get you down, to be who you arm, who we raised you to be." Calliope stops to sniffle and wipe her tears from face.

I continue her conversation because I know that if I don't I'll regret it. "He's so proud of you. He may not be here to tell you but that doesn't mean it's not true. He's always in our memories. He's always going to watching over us, so live valiantly and make him even more proud."

* * *

I walk through the tiny coffin filled house, putting one foot in front of the other beyond my control. Instead of heading up the main oak hardwood stairs I walk to the hallway leading out of the kitchen to my parent's bedroom and the main floor bathroom. Entering the hallway I make my way to the door of my parent's bedroom. I try desperately to stop myself from pushing the door open, fully knowing that it will be one of my biggest mistakes, but my resistance is utterly futile.


	8. The Only Exception

I'm relieved that I didn't have worry about the previous chapter. This chapter is told mainly from Callie's perspective but the beginning is told from _Arizona's view,_** and bold is flashback**. I hope you all enjoy! =D

Six, The Only Exception

"I've got a tight grip on reality,  
But I can't let go of what's in front of me here."  
- The Only Exception, Paramore

_I push open the solid oak door to my parent's bedroom. I find an adult size coffin draped with an American flag identical to my brother's. But something is different. My mother is on the floor sobbing tugging at flag, her fingers fiddling with the forty-eighth star. She looks up at me, "Arizona!'_

* * *

My eyes fly open at the sound of Arizona screaming in her sleep. This is the fourth time in the past week since we've been home. I sit up in the bed wrapping my arm around Arizona. "Ari." I begin to shake her slightly. "Ari, you've got to wake up, sweetie."

Her eye lids immediately open revealing her tear filled sky blue eyes. She tries to speak but her trembling lip and small sobs stop her.

"Shh, it's okay." I give her a small smile before placing a kiss on her forehead. I see the clock on the bedside table out of the corner of my eye. 4:02 am. "Do you want to get up now or do you want me to sing you back to sleep?" I put a bigger smile on my face.

I normally wouldn't sing her to sleep out of embarrassment but there was the rare case when 'desperate times calls for desperate measures' holds true. And this was one of those cases.

"H-how much time until we need to get up?" Arizona forces herself to speak. Today was our first day back work since leaving for Oregon City a week and a half ago. Derek was highly considerate with giving us extra time off.

"We've got around another hour and a half." I'm hoping it's long enough to back her want to go back to sleep. She needs to be on her game today because if she's not going to blame herself the smallest things that aren't her fault which is definitely something she doesn't need.

"Sleep." She replies quietly, almost as a whisper.

I lay back down in bed facing her, Arizona swiftly curls up against me, and her back is press slightly against my chest. "What do you want to hear? The Beatles?" Ever since our trip to Oregon City she's been listening to the classics nonstop.

"No, you pick." She mumbles as I wrap my arm around her torso pulling her closer, my other hand besides to play idly with her blonde ringlets, breathing in her scent.

I clear my throat slightly before beginning to sing quietly, to not wake anyone else in the house. "Oh, why you look so sad? Tears are in your eyes, come on and come to me now. Don't be ashamed to cry, let me see you through cause I've seen the dark side too." I continue to sing as Arizona takes my hand, intertwining our fingers. "When the night falls on you, and you don't know what to do. Nothing you confess can make me love you less. I'll stand by you."

I don't stop singing until I feel Arizona's soft snores begin to echo the room and her breathing evens. All I can do now is hope that I've done enough to keep the nightmares away, at least for the next hour and a half.

* * *

"Hey Blondie! Hey Torres! Nice to have you back!" Mark enters the attending's locker room a wide smile on his face.

"Hey Mark." Arizona turns around and gives him the best smile I've seen her muster in past few days that wasn't for the kids.

I had heard of what had happened to Arizona after Tommy's death, how Arizona was a completely different person; irrational, quiet, with mood swings and even sometimes violent. I was thankful that only one of these behaviours has come back to her since her father's death. She doesn't speak half as much, and when she doesn't the perkiness is gone, no enthusiasm in the slightest.

Her behaviour has been egging on my fears of her changing, her becoming the person she used to be.

"Torres, can I talk to you for a minute?" Mark begins rubbing his chin, signalling that this is something of importance he wants to talk to me about.

Arizona wraps her arm around my waist before giving me a quick kiss. "I'll see you at lunch." She gives me a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes before swiftly exiting the room.

"So what is it this time, Markie boy?" I chuckle as I take a seat on the bench to tie up my shoes. "Parenting advice, girl problems, spill." I give him a goofy smile.

"No, none of that." I'm surprised that he never slapped me or scolded me for calling him 'Markie boy'. "This, this is actually about you, and Blondie."

"Okay." I raise my eyebrow slight due to the fact I have no idea what Mark is talking about.

"There's something you got to know, Cal. She's" Mark doesn't finish he sentence, his eyes focus on something or someone behind me.

"Mark?" I slap him slightly on the arm. "Mark." I receive no respond so I decided to turn around and look for myself.

And there it is; the root of what I'm assuming Mark was going to tell me and what has got his tongue. The infamous Erica Hahn, there she was opening a locker and putting some of her stuff in it like it was her usual routine.

I whip by head back to look at Mark. He nods his head. "That's what I was trying to tell you, before you heard it from someone else." He whispers. "How do you think Blondie's going to react?"

His voice is fully of genuine concern. He and Arizona have grown to be closer than I thought they ever would. When I wasn't able to be with Mark when he freaked out over something or another, Arizona was always the one to calm him down.

"I honestly don't know how Arizona is going to react. When we were in Oregon City and Erica was there she was fine, but right now I honestly don't know. She's changed ever since we got home. She tried to put up a front for her mom and the rest of her family but since we've been home she continues to act like that in front of the kids but in front of me, she's not the same." I close my eyes and shake my head for a moment. "So Mark, I honestly don't know."

Mark places his hand on my shoulder, "You'll figure it out, Torres you always do. I just thought it would be better that you heard it from me and that it would be best if Arizona heard it from you too. And not from the rumor mill that made her pick you up." He chuckles slightly, I know he's cracking jokes trying to cheer me up; it was one of the things that made him my best friend other than Arizona.

"Thanks Mark, I've got to go find Arizona before as you put it 'hears it from the rumor mill' and before she or I catches Erica's attention." I give him a small smile as I swiftly exit the attending's locker room hoping that Erica isn't as observant as she used to be.

* * *

As I exit the elevator, walking out onto the ped's floor, a familiar head of blonde curls belonging to my wife catches my attention. I stealthily walk over to the main nurses' station to wait for Arizona to finish with her patient.

As I watch her clue up, I can't help but notice the smile she gives her patient doesn't reach her eyes, I also notice a slight twitch in the corner of her mouth. This smile isn't even close to genuine, it may fool her patient and their parents but it doesn't fool me for a second.

That smile only increases my fear that Arizona isn't Arizona any more; she's becoming the person I have heard stories about, a person who isn't the love of my life.

"Calliope, what are you doing here?" Arizona raises her eyebrow slightly in curiosity.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I put my hand on her arm, trying my best to keep professional.

"Yeah sure, fire away." The false perkiness in her voice creates an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Can we go to your office? I don't want to talk about this here." I scan the room trying to show her that this is obviously not the best place to do this.

"Okay." She continues to look confused and I don't blame her. "Follow me." She tries to keep it professional, even more than usual.

I follow Arizona into her office down the hall. Her office is filled with colourful drawings done by her patients and our own kids. Her desk was a sheet of glass covering almost a hundred photos of our family. Arizona takes a seat at her desk, propping her feet up on it.

"As I said earlier, fire away, Calliope." Her tone is unusually firm, completely opposite than it was earlier. She's not putting up the act anymore.

I take the seat across from her. "There's something I need to tell you." My voice is surprisingly calm. Arizona looks me in the eye and nods. "Erica, Erica Hahn, is working here at Seattle Grace."

Arizona eyes widen as she takes her foot down from her desk. "Are you serious, Calliope? Or are you just pulling my leg, because if you are it's not really all that funny." There it is; the irritability and irrationality.

"Arizona, this isn't something I'd joke about okay. She was in the locker room this morning and Mark told me she worked here now. I guess this is the hospital she left Oregon for. Are you okay with this?" I lean in over her desk taking her hand in mind trying to make her more relaxed, more herself.

"Okay, I'm fine with it. It just caught me off guard that's all." Her face softens, all except for her eyes. Her eyes tell me she's lying through her teeth right now.

"Okay, good. Considering we're going to be seeing a lot more of her now I'm assuming, I just want you to be okay with this because I'm perfectly okay with it, she's changed and I personally think that we could all be friends if we wanted to be. What'd you think?"

"I think that that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world." Arizona gives me a small smile now, I know that it's forced but I take what I can get, for now.

"Now that's my girl, I'll see you at lunch okay?" I give her a fake goofy grin before leaning in to give her a quick kiss and a wink before heading towards the door. As I open the door I can't help but genuinely smile as I hear Arizona call out from behind me.

"Dr. Robbins?" I turn around to find Arizona wearing a full blown smile on her face, this one to my surprise is authentic. "I love you."

* * *

The rest of my morning was uneventful, I had only had a routine hip replacement giving me plenty of time to get lunch for Arizona and I at Joe's to bring back to the hospital. I admit that I was somewhat trying to butter her up, I was trying to get her back to her normal self because the mood swings she's been having, especially the one she had in her office this morning, has gotten me extremely worried.

Sitting patiently, more like impatiently, at our usual lunch table with Mark and Lexie waiting for Arizona to come down for lunch I'm faced with the inevitable catalyst, also known as Erica Hahn. At first she doesn't notice me.

I watch her out of the corner of my eye as I pretend to be paying attention to some story Mark was telling about something Derek had done in college. A petite red head hands her a brown paper bag, as she does I notice the matching ring on her finger. "This must be the one who changed her." I half-guiltily turn my attention back to Mark as Erica gives the woman I've assumed is her wife a loving look that I also assumed was for her eyes only.

"So Derek threw the whole thing into the mini-fridge, it was so fricking hilarious." Mark almost chokes on air as he laughs heartily.

I laugh as if I was listening the entire time trying to be discrete. As I stop laughing I notice Arizona has entered the cafeteria. She has also realized that Erica is standing at the opposite entrance to the cafeteria. The fake smile on her face falters slightly for a moment before she begins to walk towards our table.

I lift up the paper bag that was in my lap, placing it on the table between me and Arizona's usual seat. "I brought us lunch." I give her a genuine smile hoping it provoke one from her as well as she sits down next to me.

It seems to have worked because as she takes her seat she smirks, "Extra cheese, no mayo, no ketchup?"

"Of course, you're the only person I know who doesn't like ketchup and Mayo, it's not something I could forget." I chuckle as she quickly rips open the paper bag, her sky blue eyes lighting up like one of her long term patients who has been told they can go home for their birthday.

My mind begins to travel back years before the current scene in front of me at the sight of the smile on Arizona's face.

* * *

**Arizona practically prances into the kitchen, a full dimple clad smile plastered across her face. She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek while I take the cheese out of the fridge to go on the fajitas I was making for supper before she rushes over to Rory who was sitting in her high chair playing with her favorite toy of the week. **

"**Why are you so cheery? You just got home from a sixteen hour shift and you're pretty much bouncing around like a bunny rabbit." I ask as I scrounge around the kitchen looking for the cheese grater. **

"**Well since you asked," she pauses as she picks up Rory and pulls herself up on the counter carefully. "I have had a great day. I had three surgeries today that could not have gone more routine, I sent one of my long term patients home today." **

**She pauses at the shocked look on my face, "No, I didn't mean in that way, you know me better than that, I'd never be smiling after that. I got to send Harris home today, I'm fairly sure his parents are going to be glad they'll never have to see me ever again." **

**I can't help but throw her a displeased look with a frown as she continues. "And last, and definitely not least, it's my baby's birthday!" Arizona all but yells, careful not to burst any baby ear drums. **

**I try to stifle my chuckle but it's inevitable. "I thought you didn't like birthdays, 'don't like them, don't celebrate them, they're just like any other day' remember?" There's no doubt in my mind that remembers. She had lost Wallace the day after she had said it, it was Wallace's birthday that day, and like a cosmic joke her own as well.**

"**This," She says with a giggle as leans over slightly, smelling Rory's raven black hair. "This is different. This is our child's birthday we're talking about here. We're going to bring her to the park after supper and knowing you, you probably already have made her a cake with no eggs. Am I right?" **

**Arizona gives me breathtaking smile that I can't help but love. This woman next to me has given me everything I've ever wanted, everything I need, and so much more. She knows me better than I know myself. I can't help but love every single part of her, she's breathtakingly beautiful inside and out.**

"**Of course, you're right. " I place the cheese grater down on the counter before stepping in front of my wife and daughter. I place a kiss on the top of Rory head before leaning in carefully placing my forehead against Arizona's. "I love you." **

**The smile that was on Arizona faces grows even wider, making her dimples ever more prominent. "I love you too, Calliope."**

**Right now in this moment I can't help but think that if life didn't get any better than this I'd be more than utterly satisfied. **

* * *

"Calliope, aren't you going to have some?" Arizona's voice retrieves me from my memories.

"Don't mind if I do." I chuckle.

Arizona swiftly picks up one of her fries and holds it out in front of my face for me to eat. I immediately oblige taking it into my mouth like a dog that has been offered a bone.

"I still can't get over how you two still get on like two love sick teenagers." Mark says with a chuckle. He goes to continue but a disgruntled look filled with pain from what I can only assume is Lexie, or possibly even Arizona at this point, stomping on his foot.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Marky boy." I say with a smirk. He says nothing more, only continuing to sulkily eat his sandwich.

"Was that you?" I whisper softly enough for it to be only detectable to Arizona's ears.

By the look on her face I can tell that yes, yes it was her. There is a smirk on her face that goes from ear to ear, her dimples making me turn to goo.

It's the moments like these that make it so hard. I hold on to them hoping that the change in her mood will be permanent and she'll return to being the woman I fell in love with, the woman I married, the mother of my children; I hold on tight and can't let go, no matter how much my head is screaming at me to face reality, even when I know I should, I just can't let go.


	9. No One

I apologize for the late update, I've had a fair bit of school work to do along with a horrible case of writer's block causing me to be out of commision for a while, and an awkward break up. Anyways enough of my life's story, I hope this chapter makes up for it, sorry! It is written from Callie's perspective, _italics is a flashback_. Hope you enjoy!

Seven. No One

"When the rain is pouring down and my heart is hurting,  
You will always be around, this I know for certain."  
- No One, Alicia Keys.

The rest of the work week had slow pressed on, the interaction between Arizona and I was minimal after I had brought Arizona lunch that one afternoon. The genuine smile that had once graced her face had disappeared. She had swiftly left saying she needed to prepare for a surgery she had later that day as often as the excuse allowed, trying to avoid me.

Today I had spent ten straight minutes staring at the OR board after I had left Mark and Lexie to finish their lunch alone. My attention focused on one slot in particular. Erica was on a ped's case and had a surgery with Arizona. It wasn't the thought of Erica and Arizona working together that bothered me. It was the fact that I learnt it from the OR board rather than Arizona.

I must have looked like an idiot just standing there staring at the board not writing, not erasing, just staring. I can remember at the sound of my pager going off I near jumped out of my shoes. It was this page that stopped me from seeing Arizona later that afternoon, until now.

I am sitting down on the bench in front of my locker in the attending's locker room. My gaze is transfixed on the photos plastering my locker door, specifically one photo.

* * *

"_See I told you I could prove you wrong." I give her a goofy grin as I take a seat next to her on the gigantic beach towel._

"_Prove what wrong?" Arizona raises an eyebrow as she pulls her sunglasses down farther on her nose to reveal her blue eyes that are the same shade as the sea in front of us._

"_That we'd be able to go to Spain, with or without a baby crying." I can help but chuckle as a look of realization crosses her face. _

"_Well I guess you were right, unfortunately I don't get my sangria." Arizona gives me a classic puppy pout before bursting out into giggles._

"_Well, we'll have to come back again. We have our whole life ahead of us. And then you have your sangria, you goof. Well we can get you some non-alcoholic sangria if you want." I move closer to her on the towel, putting my arm behind her._

"_Uh uh, I don't want non-alcoholic sangria." She says as she leans back against my shoulder._

"_Well what do you want then?" I take the sunglasses off her face so I can see every little detail of her face._

_She turns her head so that she's looking me straight in the eye. "To spend the rest of my life with you with our baby crying in the background because they want you to sing them to sleep." _

* * *

After that moment Arizona had wiped out her camera I had given her for first birthday we were together.

"You ready to go?" Arizona's voice echoes through the locker room as she pokes her head around the bank of locker's waiting for me to get up.

"I'm ready. I'll meet you at the car okay?" I give her the best reassuring smile I can.

"Alright, I'll be waiting in the car." She swiftly exits the locker room without another word.

As the door shut me behind her I look back at the photo of Arizona and I in Spain on our honeymoon. I pull the photo off the locker door, carefully folding it in half. I place my one piece of hope into my jacket pocket. Standing up, I shut my locker door behind me, fully knowing that I've got to hold on to this piece of hope for as long as I can because somehow I'll get my Arizona, the love of my life, the perky and absolutely breathtaking person in this photograph back. I may not know when, or how for that matter, but I do know that some way I will get her back.

"Mom!" Rory suddenly rushes into the front porch and begins to almost drag Arizona into the kitchen.

"Rory, what are you doing?" Arizona looks back at me with a look of utter confusion and almost terror on her face.

I hastily follow them into the kitchen and am taken completely surprise. "Molly, what are you doing here?" I rush over and give my eldest niece a hug.

"Well," Molly gives me a classic Robbins smirk but is unable to say anything more as she is interrupted by Rory who is practically jumping up and down in excitement. I haven't seen her this excited since her sixteenth birthday.

* * *

"_Are you serious?! Mom, Ma, you're kidding me right?" Rory looks as if she's going to wet herself she's that excited._

"_Yes, Rory, we're serious." Arizona giggles as she replies, wrapping her arm around my waist._

_I can't help but chuckle; I could remember the look on my face when my father had given me the same gift for my birthday, only a few details were different. The baby blue T-bird that Arizona and I had decided to give to Rory for her 16__th__ birthday had once been mine. I had received it as a gift from my father for getting into medical school and that day also happened to have been my birthday. When I got her she wasn't even close to being as in good shape. _

"_Now, don't ever make me regret giving you my car. This car was like my first child okay? No making out in the back seat, don't forget to check the oil," My speech is cut of as Rory launches herself towards me pulling me into a bone breaking, windpipe closing hug._

"_Always make sure you have an extra gas tank in the trunk, I know. Thank you so much." Rory gives me a kiss on the cheek before letting go and latching herself onto Arizona. "You two are the best parents ever!" _

_Arizona looks over at me giving me a classic dimpled smile. "You're welcome sweetie."_

* * *

"I was in my Algebra class finishing up some of my work and Mr. Jansen said we had a new student. And what do you know, I look up to find Molly standing there looking down at me." Rory finishes.

"That doesn't really explain what Molly is doing here sweetheart." I reply as Molly lets go and walks over towards Arizona and gives her a hug.

"Dad got transferred to Seattle he was tired of the east coast and D.C. He said he he's experienced one Washington and now he wanted to experience the other." Molly says with a laugh.

"Is Uncle Alex here?" I ask Mark who has just strolled into the kitchen to see what all the excitement was about.

"Uh, yeah. He, Molly, and Jude showed up about a half hour ago. Rory made everyone lasagne, we were waiting for you two to get home until we started. We're all starving so you all hurry up, please?" Mark chuckles deeply before he gives me a small smirk before exiting the kitchen.

"Where's my little sister?" Alex pops his head into the kitchen doorway and a genuine smile spreads across Arizona's face for the first time since Monday afternoon. Alex stands fully in the doorway as Arizona runs over to him jumping into his open arms. "I've missed you little sis." Alex pulls Arizona into bear hug.

"Right back at you, big bear." Arizona laughs as Alex lets go of her. "So where are Leah and two of my slightly rowdy nephews?"

"Leah put the boys in swimming lessons to try and help them make friends easier so they're over at the Y now. You'll see them the weekend I'm sure, Arizona. But right now I'm starved so can we get some of that delicious lasagne your daughter made because the smell of it is almost enough to make me drool." Alex chuckles.

"I think that you have a point. Rory, did you use Ma's lasagne recipe?" Arizona turns around giving Rory a smirk.

"Yes, Mom, I did. I'm just as hungry as Uncle Alex so can we just eat now, talk later?" Rory laughs.

"Sure, sweetie, let's get some of that delicious lasagne." Arizona wraps her arm around Rory and Molly's shoulders and usher them into the dining room.

Alex turns around to begin to enter the dining room. "Alex," He puts one foot in front of the other. "Alex!" I hiss trying to grab his attention.

He does a complete one-eighty on his heels before stepping back into the room swiftly, "What's with the secrecy, Cal?" Alex smirks as he leans back against the counter.

"I need to talk to you after supper," his face changes, the smirk disappearing and being replaced with a look of seriousness. "It's about Arizona."

* * *

"Hey Alex would you mind coming out to the garage there's been something I've been trying to fix on the old Charger and I'd like a hand if you don't mind." I knew that someday that my bond with Alex over the both of us being grease monkeys would useful for something other than actually fixing cars.

"Not a problem, Cal. I'll meet you in the garage after we clear up." Alex gives me an assuring smile.

"You're a guest, well today you are at least, and therefore you're not doing any cleaning up around here. Go on out into the garage with Calliope, we'll take care of the dishes right, Addie?" Arizona says as she takes the plates from Alex's hands.

"Right." Addie says. I don't even need to look at her to know there's a smile on her face. Addie never complained about helping with the dishes, it was definitely one of the things she never got from me. I was perfectly fine with doing the cooking but when it came to the dishes I had always left it to Arizona and Addie had quickly joined that wagon growing up.

"Fine, you won't get any protest from me." Alex chuckles as he receives a playful slap on the arm from Arizona as she exits into the kitchen. "Lead the way, Cal."

I nod before quickly heading to the back door leading out to the garage in the back yard. I was hoping that this was going to work. I had become close with Alex over the years, I can still remember my first trip to Oregon, my first time meeting Alex.

* * *

_I was thankful that Arizona's bedroom had its own connecting bathroom. I had loved this amenity at home in Miami growing up and wasn't particularly keen that my Seattle apartment to have such a luxury. I definitely was missing the privacy after incidents such as Lexie walking in on Arizona and I having our occasional morning shower together around a month after Arizona moved into the apartment with Christina and I. _

_I had just gotten out of the shower and was still only wearing a towel as I walk out of Arizona's en suite. "Ari, where can I find the hair dryer?" _

_Arizona rolls over in bed, running her fingers through her messy blonde hair as she turns to look at me. "It's in the cabinet next to the sink, the one with the sand dollar painted on it." _

"_Thank you." I say with a smile as I turn around to go back into the bathroom._

"_But you don't need." Arizona calls out causing me to retreat._

"_Why?" I walk over to the bed as Arizona scoots over slightly making enough room for me to sit on the edge of the bed. I take a seat next to Arizona, putting my hands on either side of her._

"_You just don't need it, okay?" Her pale cheeks begin to blush at her words as she sits up, her face coming less than two inches from mine._

"_Come on, just tell me." I grin. _

"_You always dry hair so that you can you can control it, but I think it looks just a beautiful when you let it dry on it's own, it gives it this hot surfer girl type look, it" Arizona begins to ramble causing her to blush more._

_I lean in and place my lips on hers for a moment in order to get her to stop. "Didn't I ever tell you that I used to surf? And that you're extremely adorable when you ramble?" I say as I pull away. _

_I give her a smirk before placing my lips on her once again. I can feel Arizona's breathing begin to change as we're surprisingly interrupted._

"_We're all going to the lake, are you two coming?" Alex opens the door but doesn't look inside until now. "Jesus!" _

_Arizona quickly pulls away from me, a look of horror crosses her face. "Alex!" As she attempts to get out of bed to what I'm assuming is kick her older brother's ass she managed to push me off the bed. As I fall I hold onto my towel for dear life, praying I don't flash my possible future brother in law. _

"_Sorry!" and the slam of Arizona bedroom door is all I hear before Arizona continues to follow her brother out of her room yelling as she goes. "Alexander Eli Robbins! You're going to pay! Didn't our parents teach you your manners, because they sure as hell taught me?!" _

_As I pull myself up off the floor I can't help but chuckle. I loved it when she got mad, well at least when she wasn't being mad at me. There was just something about her tone when she yelled that I couldn't help but love. But something tells me that Arizona's brother definitely did not agree with me on that point._

* * *

"This isn't about the ole' Charger here, is it?" Alex says as he leans back against the old 1974 Dodge Charger I was currently working on.

"No, this has nothing to do this the car at all." I say taking a seat on a stool leaning back against the work bench. "This is about Arizona. I need your advice, Alex."

"Fire away, Cal." Alex gives me a reassuring smile.

"Okay, you know how excited she got when she saw you?" I pause as Alex nods in reply. "That is the longest consecutive amount of time she's been genuinely smiling, genuinely happy, since we've been home."

Alex's smile dissipates. "She's changing isn't she? She's becoming the person we described to you that she became after Tommy died, isn't she?"

At his words tears are starting to form in my eyes. I hang my head slightly and nod. "She's not Arizona anymore, I all have now are a few rare moments where she's happy and they only last for about thirty seconds and then she's gone. She's moody, irrational, and quiet. And that's only in front of me. In front of the kids and at work she's different. It's like she's trying to be her but failing miserably. She may be doing it to hide what she's feeling from the kids but they notice." The tears are now streaming down my face. I quickly bring my hand to my face wiping away the tears. "They look at me as if to ask what is wrong with Arizona and I can't answer them. I, I can't." No matter how much I try and resist I begin to break down in front of my brother in law.

"Cal, it's okay." Alex walks across the garage pulling me into a brotherly bear hug. "It'll work out."

As I pull away I protest. "No, Alex it's not going to work out. It's getting worse, every day it's getting worse. My ex, my first, is now living in Seattle. We're becoming good friends again. Arizona and I agreed that we'd all be friends. You know her, Dr. Hahn, Erica. Ever since she's come back Arizona's starting to avoid me. No one has ever been there for me like she has. She's always there for me, through everything. No questions asked. She took me from the girl who stood in a parking lot in the pouring rain as she watched someone who she really cared about walk away from her and turn me into the person standing in front of you right now. So I don't know what to do, Alex. I don't know what to do. I need you to tell me what to do."

Alex places his hands on my shoulders, steadying me. "What is the first thing that Arizona taught you; the first thing that changed your relationship?"

"It was, wait, that's definitely not what you're talking about." I chuckle before sniffling.

"That's my sister you're talking about there, Cal." Alex makes a face of half disgust half amusement. "So what was it? And it's not what you were just thinking about."

"To talk to her, to not hold things in until they explode like opening a bottle of shaken soda." I can't help my smile, chuckling to myself.

"There you go. So talk to her, Cal. It's the only way to fix this, and deep down you know that. You need to stop being afraid and just talk to her." Alex gives me a look of reassurance. "Now, stop looking like you were just crying and talk to her. Bring her up stairs and leave the kids to me, I'll keep them downstairs."

"Thank Alex, I honestly don't know what I'd do if Arizona and I didn't have you. You and Mark and definitely tied for my best guy friend." I chuckle.

"Glad to hear it. Now go talk some sense into that little sister of mine." Alex chuckles as he gives me a pat on the back as he turns to leave. As he opens the garage door he turns around. "Cal?"

"Yeah, Alex?"

"I'm glad she found you. You're exactly the type of person she needs. So thanks for being there for her." Alex proceeds to head back to the house.

As the door shuts I can help but smile, "I'm glad she found me, Alex. She found me."


	10. Almost Easy

Hey guys, I'm glad you liked the last chapter! (Y) It is written from Arizona's and _Rory's _perspective. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter =D

Eight. Almost Easy

"Shame pulses through my heart  
From the things I've done to you."  
- Almost Easy, Avenged Sevenfold

"Hey Callie, Leah just called and her car broke down so I won't be able to help you with the carburetor after all." My brother says to Calliope as she enters the living room.

I can't help but notice that Alex walks closer to her as she enters the room. I see his lips begin to move but his words are too quiet for me to hear, I catch bits and pieces. "Just think tonight, think about what you want to tell her." and "Talk to her tomorrow, just don't go to bed angry."

My brother's words cause acid to churn in my stomach, the bile rise in my throat. My heart rate begins to quicken, my hands begin to become clammy.

"Thank for having us, little sis. I'm sure we'll see each again soon enough." Alex quickly makes his way over to me pulling me into a quick hug. "Come on Molly, Jude, let's go get your mother and brothers before they start to panic." Alex chuckles his classic hearty laugh before beginning to usher Molly and Jude out of the living room.

"I'll see you in school tomorrow." Molly says lively. Jude simply nods with a smile before following his father and sister.

As soon as they leave the room the fake smile I was wearing disappears from my face. The kids have followed Alex out of the room so I don't need to put of my "smiley, cheery" façade.

Calliope gives me a small smile. "So how was your surgery on Benjamin today go?" She walks over to the couch taking a seat, patting the spot next to her.

I hate what I've done to her, I hate what we have become; I hate what I've done.

I hesitate before taking a seat next to Calliope. She props her feet up on the ottoman, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. I hesitate before leaning against her. "The surgery went well, there was a bit of bleeding but I got it under control no problem."

I can tell that she's asking about surgery because she doesn't want to do anything to trigger a change in me. The thought of her being careful in her words because she's afraid makes me feel even worse. The nausea starts to set in and my hand begins to shake.

I need get out of here or I'm going to do something I'll regret. I launch myself up off the couch. "I'm exhausted so I'm going to take a small nap. I'll see you when I wake up." I give her a fake smile and swiftly exit the room barely making it to the bathroom fast enough to empty the contents of my stomach into the toilet.

I need it to stop.

* * *

"_Rory Robbins?" Mr. Edwards calls out my name during attendance._

"_Here." I stick up back hand, turning slightly in my seat._

"_Matt Sloan?"_

"_Here." In my peripheral vision I see my best friend practically since birth raises his hand in suit. _

_Mr. Edwards continues on with the roll call. I turn around to talk to Matt. "So have you heard much about the new kid?"_

_Matt and I weren't exactly outcasts but we weren't popular either. It had always been just the two of us, along with whoever strayed into our 'group' for a period of short time. At school the only constant things I ever had was Matt and my grades._

"_I haven't heard much to be honest." Mark begins his habit of scratching the back of his neck when he's nervous. "It's a girl, she's in our grade. She's not some preppy bitch by the sounds of it." _

_I now understand why he's nervous; Matt didn't exactly get Mark's confidence when it comes to women. He had gotten Lexie's slight shyness but once he got to know people he opened up._

"_Oh, now I see, I see. Let's just hope she's not as bad as them." I nod my head slightly to a group of my obnoxious classmate. "Just as long as she not as bad as them then I'll be fine."_

"_Agreed." is all Matt gets to say before being interrupted by Mr. Edwards. _

"_Okay class, get your notebooks out. We're going to start the next unit." Mr. Edwards gets up out of his seat and heads straight for the whiteboard. "Okay, we're starting off with the molecule structure of DNA." _

_He doesn't get anything else out as a knock on the door stops him in his tracks. He looks down at his watch. "Right on time." He says almost whispering as he walks over to open the door._

_As Mr. Edwards opens the door he reveals a girl I've never seen before. "Come in, there are a few empty seats in the back." He motions to the three empty seats next to Matt and I that have been empty all year. _

_He walks back towards the whiteboard, giving me and Matt a better look at the new girl. Her hair was the same style I've seen in pictures of my Mom when my parents first started dating, loose curls the same subtle red color of Aunt Addison's hair falling just below her shoulders._

"_I don't think we're going to have a problem with her, Rory." Matt leans forward and whispers into my ear. _

_I now take the time to fully take in her presence. She's wearing a form fitting classic Ramones t-shirt over a grey long sleeve t-shirt, black classic fit Levi's and slightly muddy teal Chuck Taylors._

"_I'd have to agree with you on that, Sloan." I chuckle. "Stop drooling, I'm not even looking at you and I can tell you're drooling." _

"_Hey! I'm not drooling." Matt slaps me slightly on the shoulder jokingly._

"_Sure, mut." I can't help but try and stifle my laughter._

_Growing up Matt had trouble with his A's and used to say his name was Mut. He grew out of it but when I wanted to bug him, especially when he did something especially alpha dog like, I'd call him by it. It was a running joke in our families._

"_Sure, Rory, I'm sure that you've drooled over a certain someone." Matt chuckles. "But I'll let it go, and for the record I wasn't drooling." _

* * *

"_Um do mind if I sit here?" The new girl from my biology class approaches our lunch table. During lunch I sat with Matt and Molly leaving one empty seat._

_I give Matt and Molly a quick glance to see their reaction. They were giving me reassuring smiles. "Sure, not a problem." I give the redhead a small smile before taking a bite out of my chicken wrap._

"_I'm Jess, Jess Allaway, by the way." She says as she lays her tray down on the table. "Great, I just rhymed that unintentionally, way to make a good impression, Jess." She laughs shaking her head._

"_Don't worry about it." Molly says with a laugh. "I'm Molly Robbins, you're not the only one who's new around here. I moved her last week." _

"_That is code for if you're going to be asking for directions don't ask her because she's just going to get you lost. I'm Matt Sloan. I'm in your biology class." Matt sticks out his hand for a traditional handshake._

"_I'll keep that in mind." Jess laughs as she shakes Matt's hand before taking a bite of her classic red apple._

"_I'm Aurora Robbins, but only my Grandma calls me that. Everyone calls me Rory." I say taking another bite of my lunch._

"_I know the feeling, my full name is Jessalyn but that's classified information that never leaves this table okay?" She looks across the table to each one of our faces for a look of understanding._

_Matt raises his right hand. "Scout's honour." We all can't help but at Matt's juvenile moment. _

"_Quick question, it's probably a stupid one but I'm going to ask it none the less." _

"_Shoot." Molly quickly assures her._

"_Is it always so damn wet around here? Not to sound prissy but it's my shoes extremely muddy and it's rotting me." Jess shakes her head before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear._

"_Sorry to tell you Jess but it is as you say 'so damn wet' around here ninety percent of the time, nine percent with just overcast, and the other one percent is the lovely thing people from areas like Hawaii and Florida call sunshine." I say matter of factly. _

_Jess hangs her head slightly. "You'd think with the proximity of Oregon to Washington they'd have similar weather but no, you guys have to have a lot more rain making everything muddy as I don't know what." She laughs._

"_Well join the club, I'm not much of fan of rain or mud but I'm adjusting. It's slow but I'm getting used to it. Soon enough we'll be just like these two, a much of rain loving Seattleites." Molly says pointing her thumb at Matt and I with a laugh. _

"_Let's hope, Molly, let's hope." Jess throws her head back in laughter. _

"_To Seattle." Molly holds up her can of apple juice taking a large swig._

"_I'm with you on this one, Mol. To Seattle." I hold up my own apple juice and follow suit. _

_Sitting here with Matt, Molly, and Jess somehow made me feel that things were getting better, even if this was only one aspect of my life that was returning to normal I couldn't help but feel grateful. _

* * *

_The rest of the day went fairly fast and was actually the first school day since we've returned from Oregon City I've enjoyed. _

_It turns out Jess, Molly, and I all had the last two classes together. Matt was in our last class of the day with us as well. But he was off in his own little word; between staring at Molly and actually paying attention to Mr. Hutchins who was rambling on about the chemical properties of carbon going completely off the class' current topic._

"_What was with you in chem. class last period?" I ask Matt as I open the door of my baby blue T-bird, the slight rain beginning to wet my hair._

"_Nothing, you know that I like chemistry. I thought that after a semester school you'd have noticed that." Matt says almost defensively as he takes shot gun._

"_That's not what I meant, Matt." I sit in the car pulling the door shut behind me._

"_Mark's taking Tommy, Addie, and Ollie home right?" I can tell that Matt knows what I'm actually talking about considering he's changing the subject._

"_Matt, don't try and change the subject. Come on, what is up with you having a hard time keeping your eyes off of my cousin?" I raise my eyebrow_

"_Don't look at me like that. You look like Aunt Callie when you do that." Matt laughs. _

_I hit him jokingly. "Well Matthew Sloan you are a spitting image of your father so you haven't got much room to talk. And again you're changing the subject."_

"_Fine, I'll admit it. I think she's cute, stop making such a big deal out of this." I can see the blush slowly beginning to rise in his cheeks._

"_Well, I think that it's cute. So I'm not going to make a big deal out of this but can I ask you one question?" I turn the keys in the ignition before turning my head to look him in the eye._

"_Bring it on, Robbins." Mark throws his military messenger bag back over the seat, landing on the back seat._

"_Are you actually going to do anything about you thinking she's cute or are you just going to continue with the longing glances and never ask her out?" _

"_I don't know, Rory. Now can I ask you a question?" _

"_Whatever, Matt." I put my classic red curtain colored JanSport backpack on the back seat next to Matt's bag._

"_Is that Jess Allaway?" _

_Matt points to an average height hooded figure. I notice a small amount of red hair from under the hood and the teal converse shoes she was wearing._

"_I'm pretty sure that's her." I can't help but notice that the slight rain from earlier has turned into something pretty close to a down pour. _

"_Do you think we should ask her if she wants a ride? She's getting sogged out there."_

"_I think we should." I start the car and check for traffic before pulling up to the curb in front of Jess. I roll down my window, giving Jess a smile. "Hey there, Allaway! Want a ride?"_

_Jess snaps out of her daydream-like state. "You have no idea!" She yells over sound of the rain. _

_As Jess opens the back door I pull my book bag to the other side of the seat, making enough room for Jess to sit in. "How come you were standing out in the rain, making yourself look like a wet dog, Jess?" Mark laughs as Jess shuts the door behind her._

"_My mom must have got called into work and forgot to call me to tell me to catch the bus. She can be slightly forgetful when it comes to these things. She probably called my brother who forgot to tell me, more thank likely." Jess laughs as she throws back her hood._

"_So where we headed?" I chuckle. _

"_I don't know if you know the place but," Jess pauses for a second to buckle her seat belt. "Seattle Grace Mercy West."_

* * *

"_Here it is, the legendary Seattle Grace Mercy West." I say with a laugh as I pull into the hospital. _

"_Woah, it's a lot bigger and nicer than I expected." I can see the look of what I'd classify as awe on Jess' face in the rear view mirror as I shut off the car. "Why are you shutting off the car?" Jess asks with a chuckle._

"_I decided to visit our parent's since we're here." I say smiling._

"_Well I'm glad that you guys can help me out so I don't get lost." Jess puts up her hood with a small smirk before opening up the car door and running out into the rain._

"_Come on, Matt. We better not let her get lost." I chuckle before following Jess, Matt into the shelter from the storm that is Seattle Grace Mercy West. _

"_So where are we headed?" Matt asks Jess as we shake off the rain. _

"_I thought you were the one who knew your way around here?" Jess chuckles, raising her eyebrow._

"_That's not what I meant, Jess. I meant what wing. Derm, OB, what?"_

"_Surgical."_

"_Seriously?" _

"_Seriously, my mom's a surgeon." _

"_Join the club. Our parents are surgeons as well." I smirk._

"_In that case, lead the way."_

"_Hey Jess, I'm going to see if my Mom knows where your mom is." I say as we enter the surgical wing. _

"_Alright, my mom's Dr. Hahn."_

"_Got it." I say, noticing my Mom standing at the nurses' station checking over a chart. "Hey Mom."_

"_Rory?" My mom's blonde curls bounce slightly as she looks up from her chart. "What are you doing here?"_

"_Matt and I are dropping off a friend from school." I nod in the direction of Matt and Jess. "You wouldn't happen to know who and where Dr. Hahn is would you?" _

"_I'm right here." A firm yet calm voice answers from behind me. _

_As the voice speaks I can help but the smile on my mother's face falters. My stomach is beginning churn. Something is going on. I may not know what it is but there's a reason why my mother, the cheeriest person I know which includes my sister who is almost exactly like her, has a fake smile on her face; a fake smile that falters at the sound of my friend's mother._

"_Erica." My mother's voice is quiet and the sort of calm that puts people on their guard, scares them even._

"_Arizona."_


	11. Broken

I'm _**SUPER **_happy that you guys enjoyed the last chapter! I'm a tad bit hesitant about this chapter but I've got things mapped out in my head. You've just got to be patient with me, which I know you guys will be because you guys are the best readers. So thank you for being so awesome! It's written from Callie's and _Rory's_ perspective. I really hope you enjoy =D

Ten. Broken

"You got inside my head; I try my best to be guarded  
But I'm an open book instead."  
- Broken, Lifehouse

Walking down the hall before turning the corner to go to the nurses' station it was bells and whistles start going off in my head. Alarms telling me I was about to walk into the middle of a battle field. As I look up I realise why.

Arizona was standing next to Rory who is almost staring at Erica Hahn. I also can't help but notice Arizona flinch slightly and the fact that Matt Sloan was standing behind them looking down the hall towards the ER with a teenage girl that resembled the woman who I had assumed was Erica's wife. I can tell that this is not going to be exactly what could be considered pleasant.

"What are you doing here, meija?" I say with a curious smile as I walk up behind them, standing beside Arizona as close as possible that could still be considered professional.

"I was just dropping a friend off and thought I could come visit you and Mom." Rory says quickly before pausing to take a breath. "Jess!" Rory turns around as she raises her voice slightly.

The redheaded girl and Matt both turn around. "Hey Mom." The redhead swiftly walks over and stands next to Erica. "Do you have a surgery scheduled for now?"

"She forgot didn't she?" Erica smirks slightly and shakes her head.

"Yes, she did forget, it's not a big deal, at least now I know where you work, right?"

"I'll call her. I'm being rude, this is Dr. Robbins," Erica nods in Arizona's direction "and Dr. Torres, sorry, Dr. Robbins. Old habits die hard, right Cal?" Erica chuckles. "This is my daughter, Jess."

"It looks like you've already met my daughter, this is Rory." I say with a smile. "Rory, this is Erica Hahn, you remember Dr. Hahn don't you?"

Erica had shown up at my father in law's funeral to show her respects for a few moments. She had approached me to say her goodbye for a moment before leaving. Rory had been standing next to me.

"I believe I do." Rory says with a small smile.

"And this," I motion to Matt who is beginning to approach us.

Erica turns her head around to take a glance. "You must be a Sloan. You look almost identical to him."

"Yeah, I am." I can notice the slight blush beginning to cross Matt's face. He was almost the complete opposite of his brother. Ollie would own up to the Sloan name and boast slightly, he was good kid but he was a lot like 'man whore Mark'. Matt had Lexie written all over his personality. "Matt, Matt Sloan." Matt sticks his hand out to shake Erica's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Matt." Erica smiles, shaking his hand. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to call your Mom now." Erica puts her hand on Jess' shoulder for a moment before walking down the hall slightly and taking out her cell phone.

"How are you liking Seattle, Jess? Too much rain for you?" Arizona says with a small forced smile. I can feel Arizona next to me loosen up, relaxing muscles I didn't notice she had been tightening until now.

"I'd agree with the rain thing, but I'm starting to like it here a whole lot more." Jess smiles, I can't help but notice she subtly looks over at Rory after she finishes her sentence.

"Well that's good, I can remember hating Seattle when I first moved here, the mud, the rain, the lack of sunshine all together. But you grow to love it." Arizona giggles slightly.

"Would you guys mind giving Jess, here a tour of the hospital," Erica walks back over, leaning on the nursing station holding her pager. "I just got called into surgery and Maggie won't be here for another half an hour. I'm sure Rory and Matt know this place just as well as I do." Erica chuckles.

"Sure," Rory quickly responds. "Not a problem."

"I told Maggie you'd meet her in the cafeteria. I've got to run. Nice to meet you Rory, Matt." Erica flashes a quick smile before disappearing behind a corner into the next hallway.

As if on cue, Arizona's pager begins to go off. "As much as I would love to stay with you guys I've got to go. I'll see you when I get home. It was nice to meet you, Jess." Arizona gives me a look as if to say 'I love you'.

"I'll see you later, Ari." I give her a reassuring smile before she glides around the corner in typical Arizona fashion.

I can't help but chuckle at the look that has now formed on Jess' face. "Did she just?"

"Yes, yes she did." Matt finally speaks.

"How?"

"She wears Heelys." Rory buts in.

"Nice, I like your Mom. She seems pretty awesome."

"Did you just say awesome?" I can't help but ask.

"Uhm, yes." Jess looks at Rory as if to ask what she did.

"That's kind of my Mom's thing. She says awesome, and super for that matter, a lot. And I mean a lot." Rory chuckles.

"Oh, you had me a tad bit scared there for a second. I had no idea what I said." Jess laughs slightly nervously.

"Any way you two better start the tour or you're going to be in the middle of the hospital when Jess' Mom is going to be in the cafeteria waiting on you all. " I say with a smile. "I might see you guys later. It was nice to meet you."

I watch as Rory, Matt, and Erica's daughter disappear behind a corner hoping that this was not going to cause further problems for Arizona.

"_This place is a lot bigger than the last hospital my Mom worked at, a lot bigger." Jess' voice is filled with enthusiasm and her eyes slightly widened in awe._

"_Where did she work before?" Matt asks as we make our way across the walk way from the surgical wing to the cafeteria giving us a great view of the overcast sky of Seattle._

"_Providence Willamette Falls in Oregon City." As Jess speaks I can feel the blood rush from my face, making me become paler than usual. _

_I can hear the blood begin to pound in my ears and feel the tears forming in my eyes. "I've got to go check on something. I'll meet you guys in the cafeteria." _

_I begin to walk away quickly. "Rory." Matt tries to grab my hand but I manage to pull away in time. Almost involuntarily I begin to run away, in the opposite direction we had been heading down the walk way. "Rory!" Matt's voice calling me, almost begging me to stop doesn't affect me at all. I keep putting one foot in front of the other, never looking back._

_As I pass through the doors to the surgical wing I slow down enough to not draw attention to myself. I instantaneously regret my choice of running back to the surgical wing at the sight my mother's dark brown hair at the end of the hall. I'm praying she didn't notice me. _

"_Who are you kidding, Rory?" I say under my breath as I swiftly make my way into the public washroom._

_Entering the washroom I come face to face with the large mirror that spread the entire length of the counter. I've unfortunately inherited my mother's bodily reaction to crying. My russet brown eyes are slightly bloodshot and are starting to get puffy. My mascara and eyeliner has caused faintly blackened tear streams to form on my face. I quickly splash water on my face before locking myself in a stall because I know that if my mother had seen me she would be here any second._

_As I slide down the wall of the stall, making my way to sit on the floor I hear the creak of the washroom door opening. I sniff as the crying I've been trying to contain becomes inevitable._

"_Meija?" My mother's voice fills the room as the door shuts behind her. "Rory?"_

_I can hear her footsteps getting closer; one step, another step, another step, and another. I can see her running shoes from under the stall door. I close my eyes hoping it will make my presence in this room disappear. _

"_Aurora Carolina Robbins, do not make my have to climb over this stall, because I will. You know I will." Even without being able to see her I can tell my mother now has her hand in her hair, leaning more of her right foot._

_I lift my hand away from my face and reluctantly unlock the stall door._

_Opening the door reveals my mother's soft expression that seems slightly out of place, it seems like an expression that would my other mother's face, an expression I haven't seen there lately._

_She squats down, tying her hair up in a messy ponytail. "What's wrong, Rory?" She places her hand on my cheek, beginning to wipe away the tears from my face.'_

"_She was there wasn't she?" They are the only words that can come out of my mouth. I don't know how to explain it any other way._

"_Sweetie," My mother sighs before moving close to me, wrapping her arm around my shoulder; her hand brushing the hair out of my face._

"_Just tell me." I look up at her, the tears blurring my vision._

"_Yes, sweetie she was there." I can feel her running her fingers through my hair just like she did when I was a little girl. "She was there and she did everything she could to help save your Grandpa but there was nothing she could have done, nothing I could have, nothing your mother could have. It was simply his time to go, honey." _

"_It's, it's," I try and reply but the sobbing begins to take over my body._

"_I know I know it's hard but you've got to push through it okay. It get's better." She gives me a small smile before kissing the top of my head. _

"_It's been three weeks, but he's gone, he's just gone." I sniff. "It's just not." I take a deep breath unable to finish my sentence._

"_You know that I'm always here for you, me and you mom are always here if you need to talk okay?" I can hear her sniff before continuing. "You're always going to be my little monster."_

"_Thank you, Mom." They are the only words that come out of my mouth; they are the only words I can use to express how much I love her and how much I'm thankful for her and Mom. _

After cleaning Rory up a tad bit, I decided I'd go with her to the cafeteria. By the look on her face when I first suggested it she was about to protest but pulled out at the last moment.

"Do you think they'll still be there?" Rory's voice is slightly shaky but I can sense how hard she is trying to stay strong.

"If I know Matt, and I'm infinite percent sure I do, he's not going away but the cafeteria. And also by the looks of it so far Jess doesn't seem like the type of person to run off before seeing if you're okay." I say pushing open the door to the cafeteria.

As we pass the coffee cart I notice Matt sitting with two redheads who were back on to us. Matt noticed us and raises his hand to motion us to come sit down with them.

I glance to my right to see Rory smile slightly at him. "You don't have to come with me you know." She said, almost whispering.

"Its okay, Rory. Plus it's just as well for me to meet Jess' mom now because you guys seem like you're going to be good friends." I answer with a small smile.

She doesn't reply as we continue to approach the table. I notice an exchange of glances between Rory and Matt as I take a seat next to him and the woman I've assumed is Jess' mother.

"Sorry about earlier," Rory is the first to speak. "I,"

She doesn't get the chance to finish her sentence as Jess interrupts. "No need to explain, you haven't known me very long so you're entitled to your own privacy." She chuckles faintly before giving Rory a soft smile.

"Thanks." I can see the faint blush on Rory's cheeks as she speaks.

"This is my mom, Maggie, by the way." I now take notice of the woman sitting next to me. She turns her head to face me, revealing her emerald green eyes and a welcoming smile. "Rory's parents know Mom." Jess says in Maggie's direction.

"It's Callie right?" She holds her hand out for me to shake as I nod in reply." I've seen pictures from when Erica used to work here before." I can tell by the look on her face that she obviously isn't uncomfortable around me.

"Mom used to work here?" The curiosity in Jess' voice is evident.

"Yes, Jess." Maggie looks at her daughter. That was about twenty years ago, am I correct?" Maggie turns to me for confirmation.

"That long for sure. You adjusting to the lovely land we call Seattle?" I ask trying to make conversation.

"I grew up in Seattle, and was a scrub nurse here at Seattle Grace for a little while. I think you were a second year resident when I was here."

I try and scan my memory to remember her. "Maggie," I pause for a moment, "You're Maggie Allaway, aren't you? The scrub nurse who stayed with the teenager who had the plague after all the doctor's left because they didn't want to get sick."

"That's her alright." Jess smiles widely as she answers proudly before Maggie even gets a chance to speak.

"I remember that case, I had set his shoulder because he had lost consciousness and fell down the stairs." I can remember the look on his face when the bones set back into place; it was the first shoulder I had set without a senior resident or attending looking over my own shoulder.

"You were the ortho resident who made that really macho guy who refused painkillers wet himself when you set his leg, weren't you?" Maggie is trying to contain her laughter.

I can't help but laugh at the memory, "Yes that was me!" I say between laughs.

As I look over to Rory who was laughing as well I notice a figure looking in at our table. The expression on Arizona's face causes a knot to form in my stomach. Her sorrow filled eyes meet my own for only a moment then with a flash of blonde hair she's gone.

"Would you excuse me, I've got to go check on a patient. It was nice meeting you." I carefully get up from the table trying not to draw to much attention to my exit. I receive a momentary look of worry from Rory but I give a reassuring smile before exiting the cafeteria.

As I enter the hallway I look both ways searching for the blonde ringlets belonging to my wife. I see her glide around a corner to enter the west corridor. I immediately begin to run after her as fast as I possibly can.

Entering the west corridor I notice Arizona is gliding into an on call room, shutting the door behind her. As I stop in front of the on call room door I go to reach for the door handle but I hesitate.

_Does she want me to come after her? Does she want me at all? _

I put the questions behind me as I knock on the door. "Arizona." I turn the door handle to find it locked. "Arizona I need you to talk to me, okay? So please Ari, please open the door." I'm pleading with her to let me in because I know she needs me, just as much as I've ever needed her.

My questions are answered as I stand outside this on call room, waiting for the love of my life on the other side of the door that never opens.


	12. The Other Side Of The Door

I'm shocked at how much you guys liked the last chapter. I'm very excited to give you guys this chapter considering how much you've loved the last chapter. There is a lot more Callie and Arizona as a couple in this chapter which I think you all will be happy about. So without any further ado, this chapter is written from only Arizona's perspective. I hope you guys enjoy!

Eleven. The Other Side of the Door

"I said leave, but all I really want is you…  
Cause all I need is on the other side of the door."  
- The Other Side of the Door, Taylor Swift

Leaning back against the on call room door, Calliope pleading me to open it, I feel tears forming in my eyes and my hands beginning to become clammy.

"Go away Calliope!" I finally speak after a minute silence.

"I'm not going anywhere, Arizona." Her voice is calm yet firm, she's using the tone I had once used with her trying to get her to open up to me at the beginning of our relationship. That tone had never failed, and now she had become a master of it. I can feel my resistance begin to wear thin at her words.

"Callie, leave me alone!" The use of her nickname was something that was always my last resort. I was hoping that it would express my need to be alone with my thoughts at this moment.

Clearly I was wrong. "No, Ari, I will not leave you alone. You can use my nickname as ammunition all you want but it's not going to make me leave. You need me. You know it and I know it."

I wish I could let her walk away. But my resistance was never enough, it was ever futile. She was right. My rational thinking always went out the window; I would push her away and she'd pull me back just as hard.

I was afraid to admit how much I needed her. I was a good man in a storm; I'd hold her when she cried and stand in the line of fire for her. But in moments like this I'd push her away until I couldn't push anymore. I'd tell her to leave when all I ever wanted was her; for her to stay and tell me everything was going to be okay, for her to hold me close so I could smell her lemongrass shampoo and something that was distinctly Calliope.

All I never needed was her.

Right now all I need is on the other side of this door, and yet I can't bring myself to open it, to let her see me like this. I try to speak, to continue to tell her to leave but nothing comes out. Sobs begin to take over my body before I finally give in.

I slowly turn the doorknob and walk to the other side of the room, pulling the door ajar slightly.

"Arizona." Calliope walks up behind me. She places her hand on my hip slightly rubbing with her thumb the small amount visible skin just above the edge on my scrub pants trying to calm me. "I need you to talk to me."

With Calliope's words as a catalyst I almost instantaneously turn around, burying my head into the crook of her neck, the smell of her soothingly begins to fill my senses.

I feel her take a deep breath as she begins to wrap her arms around me. "You've been smoking again, haven't you? She says with a sigh.

It was as if I was asking to get caught. The smoking was always the habit I resorted to when I felt like I had nothing else I could do to put me at ease, when I felt that saying something to Calliope would only burden her, even though she always knew. Even so I can't bring myself to admit it because right now it is as if I've failed her. I feel that way because this is the first time in almost twenty years I've resorted to this. She had made me get over the habit, she had made me talk to her the way I used to have to make her talk to me; she helped me and that was better than any cigarette I've ever had. But right now I can't help but feel that telling her may make her think I'm crazy, like I've lost my marbles.

With these thoughts my sobbing starts to become uncontrollable I wrap my arms around Calliope's neck pulling her closer, holding on for dear life.

She tightens her hold on me, now rubbing her hand up and down my back. "Sh, its okay." Calliope places a kiss on the top of my head before continuing to speak. "I need you to talk to me. You know that it's not going to stop until you talk to me. Come on, let's go lay down so we can talk, okay?"

I nod slow as Calliope begins to lead me to the lower bunk. We lay down, her arm wrapped around my waist, her fingers playing with my hair soothing me. We lay here for a moment with no words, just with me looking into her eyes and hers into mine.

I bring my hand to her face, slowing caressing her cheek with my thumb before taking a deep breath. "I'm scared, even after all this time I'm scared."

"Arizona, its okay to be scared. But I need you to tell me what's scaring you so we can work on it," she takes my hand in hers. "Together."

"I told you to leave because I'm scared. I told you to leave because I'm afraid that I need you too much. I'm scared because I love you." The tears are beginning to form again in my eyes.

"Hey, it's okay. It's okay." She places a kiss on my forehead. "This is about your father isn't it?" I nod in response. "And Erica?" I can't help but look at her in slight shock. "I've noticed, I've noticed but I didn't realize how big it was until now. So we can talk about it, right?"

"We can talk about it." I say sniffling. "Ever since he died I feel like you're slipping away from me. Now every time I look at you with Erica, or with Mark, or like today when you were with the kids and Erica's wife, I feel like you're slipping away. I feel like a jealous teenage girl all over again who's losing her girlfriend to some uncontrollable situation. Except that this time I don't have my Dad to tell me what to do, I don't." I stop in fear that I'm not making any sense.

"I get it. You might not think I do, but I get it, I do." She pulls me closer, placing her forehead against mine. "I get it because I love you and I don't want to lose you either. I don't want me to push me away. I want you to be there with me, I want you to be friends with Erica and with Maggie. I want you to be there with me holding my hand because I love you. I want you to be with me even when I'm mad at you. I want you to be with me even when you're mad at me. I want you. I don't want the woman who looks like the love of my life but doesn't smile like she does, that doesn't use her dimples to the full advantage when she wants something even though she knows they turn me into goo, and deflects our kids because she's afraid that she'll do something that breaks the façade. I don't want her. I want you."

"And I want to me again, losing my father changed me. I don't want to turn into the shell of a person who I used to be. I need to spend time with you because there were two people in my life who I trusted with my life, and now," I begin to sob slightly. "And now there's only one, you."

"And I'm not going anywhere." Calliope brings her lips to mine. I can instantaneously feel her warmth; the passion that was in her words is now behind this kiss. I can feel every crease of her soft lips, the flicker of her tongue against my own. I can feel everything.

I can finally feel something that isn't pain, guilt or grief. I can feel everything I'm supposed to; love. All because everything I needed was on the other side of that now open door.

* * *

"How do I look?" I ask nervously as I walk out of the master bath.

"Ma is going to love it." Addie gives me a smile identical to the one I see when I look into the mirror.

I was wearing a dress that Addie had picked out for me while she, Rory and I were shopping earlier that day. I had taken the day off to take the girls shopping after the talk I had had with Calliope yesterday because I knew it was time for things to back to the way they were, to normal.

"Are you sure? I never would have picked this dress." I stand in front of the mirror, Addie gets up off the edge Calliope's and mine bed and stands next to me.

"I'm sure it's the right dress. Trust me about these things, I learnt from the best." She gives me a grin showing off her dimples as she leans into me slightly, wrapping her arm around my waist. "I missed you, Mom."

"I know, Addie. I'm sorry." I pull her into a hug, placing a kiss on her forehead. "I'm really sorry, sweetie."

"It's not your fault, Mom. I just missed you that's all, I really don't know what I'd do without you and Ma." Addie pulls away slightly and gives me another smile. "And as I said this IS the dress. I'm sure of it."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop doubting it now. Thanks for doing this Add."

"Not a problem, Mom. You and Ma deserve to go out for a change. Rory will keep us all in line, you know that, so don't worry about it."

"I know you guys better than that. The only thing I'll be worrying about it Mark and Tommy playing soccer in the basement and breaking something. Your brothers are like kindergarteners you know?"

"I know. We'll make them play outside." Addie giggles.

"That's good to hear." I giggle with her.

"Now let's get out of here before you're late and Ma thinks you stood her up." Addie continues to laugh.

"I love you, Addie." I pull my youngest child into a big bear hug.

"I love you too, Mom."

* * *

Calliope and I had just chosen a wine our favorite Italian place almost an hour from the house. We've been coming here since it opened when Rory started Jr. High. "So, I'm glad we talked yesterday." Calliope says simply letting her feelings known.

"Me too. I'm so thankful to have things back to normal, to feel normal." Calliope takes my hand, rubbing the back of my hand with her thumb. "I felt like the stories I've heard about Meredith, feeling so messed up that I couldn't be around normal people, feeling like everybody was slipping away. Thankfully, you pulled me back, put me into perspective, making me 'me' again. All I needed was you." I give the most genuine smile I've given in almost three weeks, butterflies fluttering around in my stomach like the night I first kissed her at Joe's. I haven't felt this good in weeks.

"Everybody's different. You felt like everyone was slipping away and you pushed people away like I used to instead of dealing with your problems. I remember when my Abeula died, my dad, you know my dad, my dad was a complete mess, he was worse than Meredith Grey, Arizona. I was in medical school so I went home and I remember he couldn't even look at Aria, he barely could look at me. He used to hide away in the study almost all day long. But he got over it, do you know why?"

I look at her curiously, "Why Calliope?"

"Because my mother got over her fear of bringing up my Abeula's death and helped my Dad. I got over my fear of bringing up what happened and now you're okay, we're okay." Calliope kisses the back of my hand.

"We're okay." I give her another smile.

"Now we can talk about things, like the kids. Can you believe that Rory graduates at the end of this year? We have nine months until she goes off to U-Dub and goes off to live in a dorm with a roommate she hopefully won't hate."

"I know. Let's just hope that she doesn't have the same experience I had. My roommate listened to really crummy music and always smelt like cheese, which made our room smell like cheese, and my bed, and my clothes." I don't get to say anything more as I am cut off by Calliope placing a finger to my lips.

"You're cute when you ramble." She gives me a classic Calliope smirk.

"You're just cute in general." I say coolly, trying to keep the mood playful.

"Oh really?" She raises her eyebrow cockily.

I grin before pulling her in for a quick yet meaningful kiss. "Really." I say placing my forehead against Calliope's. "Now what were we discussing?"

"Our miraculously amazing children, and how your college roommate smelt like cheese." Calliope pulls away slowly with hearty laugh.

"Ah, yes that." I giggle.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you Addie had a swim meet on Friday night and Mark has a soccer game the same time. What are we going to do, do like we always do and one of us go to the soccer game and one of us go to the swim meet, or are we going to do something different?"

"Now that's a tough one, its Addie's first meet since we've been home and I missed Mark's game last week,"

"You knew about that?" Calliope's voice is filled with curiosity and shock.

"I knew, and that's part of the reason why I felt so bad, because I couldn't bring myself to go because I didn't want him to see me so broken, so non-'man in a storm' like. I couldn't let him see me like that because every time I look at him I see Alex, and every time I see Alex I see my dad. I used to hate being so vulnerable in front of him after everything he went through but he would always comfort me and tell me everything was going to be okay, making me feel safe. I'm so sorry. I just couldn't let me see me like that." Tears are starting to form in my eyes.

"There's no need for you to apologize. I understand and it's okay for you to have felt that way. And now you understand so we can move on, together." She gives me a wide grin.

"I know, I know. I just feel the need to apologize even though I don't necessarily need too. But what I was trying to was I'm going to Mark's game, I went shopping with the girls today and he deserves to spend time with me too. I think I'm going to take Tommy out to that record store he likes on 6th tomorrow and go out for coffee. He definitely got his caffeine fix from you, you know." I chuckle.

"Says the woman who drank three cups of coffee in one hour then proceeded to finish what I had left in mine while I wasn't looking." Calliope rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

"You love me for it." I chuckle.

"Eh, I guess I do." She shrugs her shoulders. I hit her on the arm playfully, narrowing my eyes. "You know I do."

We don't get to say anything more as a loud commotion erupts at the opposite end of the restaurant. "Cam! Cam, wake up!" A woman's pleading voice echoes through the room.

Our usual waiter rushes around a corner and approaches our table. "Drs. Robbins, we need some help. Please hurry."

I give Calliope a look before swiftly getting up out of our booth. She is quickly on my heels. "Somebody help him, please!" The woman's plea once again echoes of the restaurant walls, filling the room. If not for her cries you would be able to hear a pin drop.

As we approach the scene I notice out of my eye a look of shock appear on Calliope face. "Maggie?"


	13. Down

I'm glad I've gotten you guys intrigued by the ending of the last chapter. This chapter is written in both Callie's and _Rory's _perspective. Again, my medical knowledge is as great as what I've learnt from my biology courses and Grey's so I'm obviously not a doctor, just doing my best. This chapter is a bit shorter but I wanted to update before tonight's finale, which I'm completely pysched for! It has slight fluff and drama alike so I hope you guys enjoy! (:

Chapter Twelve. Down

"You won't be lonely,  
Even if the sky is falling down."  
- Down, Jay Sean

"Maggie?" I look down at the redheaded woman holding on to an unconscious boy who is around sixteen. Looking at the boy it is obvious he is Erica's son; his nose and light blonde hair gives it away, if his eyes were open I would assume they would be the same shade of ice blue as Erica's. "Maggie?' I bend down carefully next to her; Arizona kneels down along side of me.

"Callie?" Maggie finally looks up from the face of her son in her arms.

"Maggie, I need you to let Arizona examine him and you can tell me what happened okay?" I say trying to keep calm.

Maggie carefully lays him down on the floor, taking a deep breath. Arizona gives her a quick reassuring smile before checking his neck for a pulse. "He had a just told me a joke, we were laughing. I can remember slowly starting to get pale and I had asked him if he was feeling okay. He didn't get a chance to answer me, he collapsed before he could." Maggie stops and throws her head in head hands for a moment, only to look back up and begin shaking her head. "He has sickle cell anemia."

I look over at Arizona; she gives me a slight shake of her head. I can tell by the movement of his chest that he's still alive but by the look on Arizona's face I can tell that if we don't get him to a hospital soon he won't be for much longer.

"Do you want me to come with you?" I ask Arizona as she finishes giving information to the paramedic who had just placed Maggie and Erica's son, Cam, on a stretcher.

"I'm going to need you." Her blue eyes are slightly widened; I notice the look in her eyes and realize I didn't even need to ask.

She averts her eyes as I begin to speak. "I'll be there. Are you going to go with the ambulance or do you want me to drive?" I take her hand in mine, which is surprisingly shaking.

"I'll come with you." She still doesn't look at me.

"Arizona?" I begin to rub the back of her hand with my thumb as we start walking to Arizona's Jeep parked a few spots away. She sheepishly looks up at me. "Just relax, okay?"

"I'll try." I can physically see some relief cross her face. "I just really don't want to let our daughter's friend's brother and your ex's son die."

"Relax, honey, we'll think of a game plan on the way there." I try to reassure her the best way I possibly can right now because to be honest, I'm just as nervous as she is.

Before we begin to pull out of the parking lot following the ambulance Arizona turns on the emergency lights. "Okay, time to use me as a sound board." I take her hand that has now become clammy to try and calm her down, to make her thinking more rational.

"I'm pretty certain he has a tear in his aorta but I'm going to need a chest x-ray to check. It's also possible he had a heart attack but it's not completely probable." I can still sense the anxiety in her voice but her hands are beginning to become drier, which I take as a good sign.

"So if he has an aortic tear and had a heart attack what are you going to do?" I ask as I pass two slow moving cars that were ahead of us.

"You already know the answer to that, Calliope." She replies.

"Well pretend that I don't know and tell me. It'll help, I promise." I know that in situations like this the only way to calm Arizona down is to get her to think like a doctor rather than just an average citizen of wet and dreary Seattle.

"Okay, well, you're going to control the bleeding then give him a blood transfusion. Then," Arizona continues explain the procedure to me. I can hear her breaths beginning to become more even and her voice to become calm. Out of the corner of my eye I can tell that as she's looking out the windshield the traffic around us has disappeared and an imaginary surgical field has taken its place.

After her explanation she takes a deep breath before finally her eyes off the road in front of us. "Thank you."

"For what, I just asked what you'd do." I say before turning on the signal light, indicating we'd be taking the on ramp leading towards Seattle Grace.

"I needed that, so thank you for knowing me better than I know myself most of the time." She chuckles slightly.

"No thanks are needed, Ari." I give her a small smile before lifting her hand to my lips, hoping that I've calmed her down enough to get us both through the night.

* * *

I've been pacing back and forth the OR corridor for the past few minutes debating with myself if I should go down to the ER to check on Cam and Arizona. I had just changed into my scrubs and sneaker and check the OR board; Arizona hadn't scheduled surgery yet.

"Just go, Callie. If it doesn't help, it certainly can't hurt." I say to myself as I stop pacing and continue to walk in the direction of the elevators.

As I open the doors to the ER I can hear Erica's voice booming throughout the ER. I look around to find her nowhere in sit but the door to trauma room two open. Sure enough there she is, Maggie trying to pull her back towards the wall. I don't hesitate before entering the trauma room.

"Robbins, what are you doing? Are you trying to kill my son?" Erica face had reddened significantly considering her usual pale tone.

"Erica!" Maggie continues to try and tear Erica away but she keeps managing to get closer and closer.

I look at Arizona; the look on her face makes it obvious that she's uncomfortable with having Erica here. "Somebody get her out of here!" Arizona directs one of the nurses to remove Erica from the room.

"Like hell I'm going anywhere. I'm not going to let you kill my son, Robbins." Maggie's hold on Erica's arm finally gives and Erica begins to approach Arizona.

I manage between to get between the two of them before Erica decides to do something stupid. "Erica. You're not going to do this." I firmly plant my feet on the ground preparing for her retaliation.

"That's my son. I want him to have the best. Not a surgeon who just said they were going to patch his aorta and perform bypass surgery before completely fixing the aorta. He's my son." Erica's body begins to collide with mine.

"Erica," I put my hands on her shoulders and begin to carefully guide her backwards before she decided to take out my wife. "Erica, listen to you. He's your son, you clearly cannot be here I'm going to ask you and Maggie to leave before I have to physically remove you. You can't help him now, but they can so let them help him." I give her the best look of reassurance I can.

Erica stops and finally looks me in the eye. The fear in her eyes is evident. Maggie takes Erica's hand, and I can see slight relief for a moment cross her face. "I'm sorry." She says quickly before quickly exiting the room, shaking off Maggie's slight hold, at an almost jogging pace. Maggie gives me quick look of gratitude before exiting out of the room after Erica.

"Okay, someone get an OR prepped. I'm going to get changed into scrubs and meet you in the OR." Arizona says before the nurses quickly roll Cam's gurney out of the trauma room. "Thank you." She rips off her gloves while the room around us empties.

"No thanks are needed. I know how she feels. She just needed someone to set her head straight." Arizona turns around and I untie her trauma gown.

"I know I just couldn't bring myself to look at her and I couldn't think straight."

"Do you want me to be in the gallery?" I take out a ponytail ring and a few bobby pins from my scrub pants pocket and begin to fix Arizona's hair so that it would fit comfortably under her scrub cab. Under my touch I can feel her relax slightly.

"If you want to be there you can." Her words say but her tone is telling me that she's going to need me in that gallery otherwise she's going to start panicking.

"I'll be there." I say with a small smile as she turns around to face me. I can't help but give her a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I love you. Now go kick so cardio ass!" I chuckle.

Arizona gives my favorite smile revealing her dimples. "I love you too. I've got to go get changed but I'll see you there." Arizona gives me a quick peck on the lips before practically jogging out of the trauma room.

As I exit the trauma room I can't help but notice a familiar head of red hair exiting the ER. I pursue my instinct to follow them.

"Jess." I call out as I catch the door shutting behind her. She continues to walk on, not hearing my voice. "Jess!" My voice is louder now and has obviously reached her ears as she turns around.

"Dr. Robbins?" She asks in surprise as I manage to catch up to her. Her face is slightly puffy and her eyes watery. It is evident she's been crying.

"I'm sorry to bother you. I was just wondering if there was anything I could do for you? Would you like for me to call someone for you?" I ask empathetically.

"No, that's okay Dr. Robbins. I'm fine." The fact that she is telling me she's fine tells me she isn't 'fine'.

"Are you sure? I have the night off so it's no trouble." I try and get her to accept the help I can tell she most desperately needs.

"Uhm, would you, uhm never mind." Jess gives me a look of what could almost be considered disbelief.

"Jess, it's okay. I don't bite." I smile.

"Would you be able to call Rory?" Her words come out rushed, sounding more like one word than a sentence and her cheeks are beginning to become slightly pink out of embarrassment.

"Not a problem, I'll just give her a call. I'll tell her to you by the main nurses' station in the waiting on the surgical wing because that's where I'm headed to right now so she'll know exactly where to find us okay?" I give her a quick smile before dialling our home phone number. "Rory?"

* * *

_As I walk into the hallway leading to the main waiting are on the surgical floor I couldn't help but feel anxious and slightly nervous. Ma was fairly discrete and cryptic when she called me and asked me to come to the hospital. All she had said was that someone here wanted to see me, and that I should be prepared to start here over night so I should put Mark in charge back home. _

_Opening the door to the waiting area I immediately realize who she was referring to. Jess is sitting in one of the waiting room's uncomfortable chairs staring at the staircase leading to the patient rooms upstairs with bloodshot eyes._

_I slowly approach her, I'm not careful of my words. "Jess?" It takes her a moment for her to look at me. "Can I sit down?" _

_She nods slowly signalling me to sit down. We sit here in almost complete silence for almost five minutes before words are spoken again._

"_My brother is in surgery." She pauses for a moment trying to regain some composure. I slightly hesitate before taking hold of her hand. "Your mom's operating on him, he has sickle cell anemia and he's got an aortic tear." Fresh tears are forming in her eyes and beginning to roll down her cheeks. _

"_It's okay." I give her the best reassuring smile I can, right now is to be the good man in a storm I was raised to be. _

"_He might end up being paralyzed or he might die." Jess buries her head in her hands._

_I now go into full protector mode, beginning to rub my hand up and down Jess' back to calm her. We may have only known each other for a week but we've become closer than I've been to anyone who I don't consider family in a long time._

"_I know you feel like the sky is falling down on top of you but you've just got to relax. Worrying isn't going to help; it's only going to drive you crazy. I've been there before, you've just to put your mind of things and let the doctors do their jobs. It may seem like a load of crap but honestly it helps if you take your mind of it." I try my best at getting Jess to relax. _

_She looks up at me with bloodshot eyes, "And how do you suppose I do that." Jess almost chokes on a sarcastic laugh._

"_I'd like to propose we get out of here." Jess gives me a confused look as I pause for a moment. "I think that we should go upstairs to my Mom's office and get away from this chaos. Plus then I'd actually get the time to get to know you better, you're one of my best friends and I don't even know your favorite color." I chuckle trying to cheer her up, even if it's in the slightest._

_A small smile forms on Jess' face. "I think I'd like that." I stand up and begin to lead her out of the waiting room towards. "Rory?" Jess' voice breaks the silence that exists in the room._

"_Thanks, I just couldn't be alone." She gives me a gratitude filled smile._

"_Not a problem, I wouldn't have wanted you to be left alone like this." I can't help but think that this is only the beginning of a friendship that is going to last a long time. At this thought a wide smile crosses my face. Jess takes notice and gives me a curious look. "Nothing, Jess. I was just thinking that's all. Let's get upstairs."_


	14. Wonderwall

Hey guys I was so freaking relieved by this season finale, I was so thankful that our girls got back together! Their interaction throughout the entire episode was absolutely stunning. Callie, I applaud you for protecting Arizona and that child. Arizona, if it's even possible I love you so much more for deciding to have kids with Callie. Sara and Jessica did an outstanding job. You all agree? I'm sure you've had enough of my rambling and want be to get down to business so here it is. This chapter is written from both Callie and _Rory's_ perspective again. Also, I highly doubt that you can hear what's going on in the OR in the gallery but I'm begging you to just roll with it because it makes the scene work. I really hope you guys enjoy!

Thirteen. Wonderwall

"There are many things I would like to say to you,  
But I don't know how."  
- Wonderwall, Oasis

_One of my mother's favorite nurses opened the door to my mother's office with a sympathetic smile. "Just lock the door when you leave as always when you're done."_

"_Thanks Jen, I appreciate it." I say with a quick smile before leading Jess into the office._

"_Wow, that is a lot of photos." Jess says with a slight chuckle as she takes notice of my mom's photo top covered desk._

"_Most of them are of me and my siblings with my parents." I say feeling the blush beginning to rush to my face. "I'm going to ask you to go take as seat because there a few really embarrassing photos of me on there." I laugh as I motion to the large comfortable navy couch against the adjacent wall._

"_Okay, I'll humour you for now but I'll see them on my way out." She says as she takes a seat on the couch._

"_Do you want something to drink?" I ask as I bend down behind the desk, opening mom's mini-fridge. "We've got apple juice, orange juice, water, and what looks like fruit punch." _

"_Apple's good." Jess' voice is quieter now without the nurse or photos to distract her. There are so many things I wish I could say to her, things that could make her feel better, even if it's only for a moment, yet I don't know how. _

_I pull out a can of apple juice for her and a box of fruit punch for me. "Can you catch?" I ask as I stand back up straight, shutting the mini-fridge door shut with my foot, while holding out the can of apple juice prepared to throw._

"_Can I catch?" She shakes her head with a laugh, causing me to raise my eyebrow slightly. "You're looking at the MVP for my old school's baseball team two years running. I played on both the boy's and girl's teams." She smirks; I can tell she's beginning to relax now._

"_See I told you this was a good idea." I say as I throw the can of juice to Jess. "I didn't know that, obviously." _

"_And now you do. So that means I get to know something about you that I don't already know now." Jess smiles slightly as I take a seat on the couch next to her._

"_I'm extremely organized. It's definitely something I picked up from my mom, considering Ma is not the neatest person in the world. My room is always clean and everything is always exactly where it's supposed to be, therefore I know where to find everything." Blush is beginning to flush in my cheeks. _

"_I never would have pegged you for the organized type." Jess chuckles before taking another sip of juice._

"_It's not like I have OCD or anything, I just liked to be organized." My embarrassment is starting to become slightly apparent in my voice._

"_I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being organized. I'm just saying that I wouldn't have thought you were the organized type, but I wouldn't have considered you a slob either." She laughs which causes me to follow suit._

"_Why thanks, Jess that's always great to hear." I almost snort in laughter._

"_You're welcome." She gives me another smirk. "I'm not what you'd consider a slob but I'm not the neatest person in the world either." _

"_Okay, I have a good way to make this more interesting. Considering my good track record so far I think you should listen." I say with joking arrogance. _

"_I'm all ears." Jess says as I kick off my shoes and pull my feet up on the couch, turning so my back is against the armrest. _

"_I ask you a question, you answer, and vice versa. You get five vetoes and who ever runs out of vetoes then refuses to answer any other question loses."_

"_Sounds like a plan." Jess says as she follow my lead, leaning back against the opposite armrest and pulling her feet up which land on top of mine. "Sorry." Blush begins to faintly spread across her cheeks._

"_No biggie." I say with a sympathetic smile trying to hide my own nervousness, I'm currently having what could only be described best as butterflies like a six year old whose crush has just kissed her boo-boo all better. "So where were we?"_

* * *

I take a seat in one of the empty chairs in the front row of seats in the gallery above Arizona's OR. Looking down into the OR I notice Arizona's pale pink butterfly scrub instantly. I can't help but smile; she has been wearing the same pattern on her scrub crap ever since I've known her, I never ceased to make me smile.

One of Arizona's scrub nurses comes up behind her and whispers into her ear. She nods before looking up to the gallery. I can't see any part of her face except for her eyes which meet mine and I can tell by the look in her eyes she's giving me a smile, thanking me for being here because I can tell how hard this is for her. I give her a quick wink and a smirk before she continues with the procedure.

I'm sitting in the gallery for what seems like an hour before the monitors in the OR start blaring. "Damn it, I need suction over here!" Arizona's voice is booming through the room below. Her tone and choice of words causes my hand to become slightly clammy. When she starts swearing, especially in the OR, you know it's nothing good. "Grey, I need you to keep suctioning while I search for the bleeder." Her voice is firm and still loud enough to be heard in the gallery.

I look at the monitors and I don't see anything promising. Cam was becoming bradycardic, his pressure was dropping fast. "Come on, Arizona." I say whisper as I lean forward, putting my elbows on my knees, and my hands to my mouth.

I look over at the monitor at the side of the gallery and realize that the procedure Arizona was performing was not what we had discussed earlier. It appeared to be the a lot riskier David procedure. "Is that an aortic dissection?" I ask a second year resident sitting two seats away from me. I wasn't entirely up on my cardio considering the last time I touched a heart was my junior residency.

"Yeah, it is. I think Dr. Robbins will be able to get a handle on it, she's one of the best." The young brunette gives me a small smile, obviously now realizing who she was speaking to. Arizona and I tried to keep our personal life out of our work but with us working at the same hospital it was near impossible to not have people know we were married. The only time we ever acted strictly professional was when we shared a patient.

"I hope you're right." I give the resident a smile in return. The resident then turns back to surgical floor watching intently. As I follow suit the monitors blaring beeps begin to lessen becoming less frequent. "Thank you for not dying." I say under my breath before saying a little prayer.

Arizona looks up at me for a moment; the nervousness and fear in her eyes are clearly evident. She looks at me for what seems almost like an answer as if she should continue. I give her a look of encouragement and nod, hoping she gains at least the smallest amount of courage from my reaction. I honestly can not help but smile as Arizona takes a breath before continuing on as if her patient is not my ex's child, as if he's one of her long term patients she'd fight for, as if she had not just almost lost him on under her scalpel.

Arizona's firm yet hopeful voice now echoes through the OR. "Okay, people we don't want that to happen again so we're going to do this as quick as possible and without any mistakes. Let's get back to what we came here to do, save a life."

* * *

"_Okay, what is that most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?" Jess gives me a slightly wily smile before placing her empty can on the coffee table in front of the couch._

"_Oh, good grief." I hang my head for a moment. "Veto." I mumble._

"_Oh what was that? Rory Robbins refusing a question with no vetoes left? Leaving me to be the one to win?" The smirk on Jess' face doesn't fade as I look up at her with narrowed eyes._

"_I thought I still had one more veto left, don't you go trying to cheat your way into this one." Jess and I have been sitting in my mom's office past hour and a half trying to get to know each other better and keeping our minds, mainly Jess', off the fact that Jess' brother was in life saving surgery as we speak._

"_I'm not cheating; you seriously don't have any vetoes left. But if you want to tell me then I'll have no protest on you still being in the running to win." The smirk on her face fades to a genuine smile and I can't help but blush slightly. _

"_Here it goes, Rory." I think to myself. I've decided to just give up my resistance and tell her because it's bound to become relevant eventually._

"_Last year, I was dating one of my best friends. Things seemed to be going absolutely perfect but." I don't get to finish my sentence as there is a knock on my mom's office door._

"_Saved by the bell, well knock in this case." Jess says with a chuckle._

_Thank God for interruptions._

* * *

"Okay, Dr. O'Neil can you test the reflexes of both legs, please?" Arizona asks a third year resident who has scrubbed in with her. Her voice is calm but I can tell she's nervous.

The resident makes their further down the table and begins to test Cam's reflexes. I watch intently for any sign of movement. The resident tests three times with no result before testifying Cam's lost the use of his legs. The look on Arizona's face may be hidden by her surgical mask but I can see the expression that is on her face in my mind, and it's not good.

Arizona looks over at Lexie. "Okay, good work people. Grey, could you close for me please? I've got anxious parents to speak with."

Without another thought I almost jump out of my chair and swiftly make my way to the scrub room. As I enter the room, Arizona enters through the opposing doors. She rips her surgical gloves off, slamming them into the medical waste bin, before yanking off her surgical mask and doing the exact same thing. She doesn't look at me; she just continues to scrub out, scrubbing her hands vigorously. As she wipes her hands dry she finally looks at me.

The tears now running down her face are enough to make tears prick in my own eyes. I hold out my palm open hand waiting for her fingers to intertwine with mine. I don't have to wait very long before I feel Arizona's warm hand take mine. I lead her out of the scrub room to the on call room down the hall, ignoring the concerned look from Bailey who was standing in front of the OR board.

As we enter the on call room I let Arizona go in first and shut the door behind me. Turning back to look at Arizona she has thumb and her index finger on her temples, her hand covering her eyes.

"Come here." I take a step closer to her and put my hand on her shoulder, guiding her to me.

Arizona immediately buries her face in the crook of my neck, wrapping her arms around my neck, going on her tippy toes. I wrap my arms around her waist pulling her closer protectively, sheltering her from herself. I place a quick kiss on the top of her head, "Sh, its okay, its over. He's okay." I whisper sweetly hoping it will help.

I can feel Arizona tears running across my collar bone, slowly wetting my scrub top. We stay like this for what seems like forever but in reality was only a few minutes before Arizona pulls away slightly to look me in the eye. "He's 16, he's Mark's age, and he's never going to walk again." The anxiety in her voice is inevitable.

"That maybe true but he's still alive. He's still alive, and that's all because of you." I begin to slowly comb my fingers through her hair to sooth her.

"But he's a teenager, he's going to hate his life, he's going to know exactly what he's missing. What if this ruins his life Calliope?" She replies, her tone completely serious.

"He is a teenager, Arizona, which means he has time to get over what happened and move on with his life. Sure, he's going to be upset but that's what's normal. I had a patient who cut off his own finger so he could play hockey for college scouts and his hand got infected, he lost most of the function in his hand. But you know what? He moved on with his life, he got over it, because it's what you do, you have to. And if acts as much as he looks like Erica then he's going to get over it because he's a strong kid. He's not alone, Arizona. He's got a lot of people to help him, he'll get over it. And he's going to be thankful to you. You know that mortality rate of aortic dissections, Arizona. It's a miracle he survived, and he has you to thank for that. So stop worrying your beautiful mind about it. You deserve to relax, okay?"

I finish my rant like reply with my famous goofy smile which I know always makes Arizona smile. Arizona shakes and hangs her head for a moment with what I assume is a chuckle. She looks up at me with a smile. I cup her cheek, wiping away her tears with my thumb. "See that's better." I say with a chuckle.

Arizona reciprocates my actions, placing her affectionate hand against my cheek. "I love you, Calliope." With a look of utmost admiration and love in her eyes she slowly leans in and places a soft, yet indulgent kiss on my lips. "I love you." She says as she gradually pulls away, this time her voice barely a whisper.

"I love you too, Arizona." I whisper back. "Now you've got some parents you've got to talk to because you can't lie to Little Grey now can you?"

"I guess not." The nervousness that had disappeared is now apparent in Arizona's voice.

"Do you want me to come with you?" I ask even though I already know the answer.

"Please." Arizona gives me a small smile.

"Time to face the music then, Ari." I give her a quick kiss on the forehead before taking her hand and intertwining our fingers while leading her out of the on call room to find Erica and Maggie.

* * *

"_Rory?" The door opens slowly to reveal my raven haired mother. "Hey Jess, I just wanted to check up on you two, see if you guys needed anything."_

_I don't get a chance to respond before Jess begins to speak to my Ma. "We're okay, Dr. Robbins. Rory here has got it covered." She gives her a small chuckle followed by a slight smile._

"_Well in that case Jess do you want to come see your brother?" My Ma gives her a big smile._

_The look on Jess' face changes immediately and I can't help but smile widely as well. "Are you serious?" She says almost in shock._

"_I'm serious."_

_Tears begin to form in Jess' eyes and she sniffles. "Sorry, I'm not usually an emotional person." She chuckles._

"_It's perfectly fine. You've got the right to be emotional. Ma will take you up to see him" I stand up removing my feet from between Jess', grabbing her empty juice can and my empty juice box off the coffee table and placing them in the recycling bin next to my Mom's desk._

"_You're not coming?" Ma asks me curiously._

"_Well I was thinking," I don't get to finish my response as I am cut off by Jess._

"_If this is a privacy thing then don't worry about it." Jess says causally, I look back at her; looking in her expressive eyes for a moment. They tell me that she wasn't about to ask me to come with her because she didn't know how, no matter how much she wanted to._


	15. Fix You

I was extremely surprised by the amount of feedback from the last chapter, thank you guys for the amazing reviews it definitely made my week =D This chapter is right from Arizona's and _Rory's _perspective. I hope you guys enjoy! [:

Fourteen. Fix You

"When you feel so tired but you cannot sleep.

Stuck in reverse."

- Fix You, Coldplay

Calliope, with Rory and Jess closely on her heels, appears as main door to the ped's floor opens. She looks over at me mouthing the words "explain" and "legs". It takes me a moment before I realize what she has meant by this. I give her a small nod and smile in respond to signal I've understood.

"Hey Mom." Rory says with a small smile that mirrored my own.

"It's nice to see you, Dr. Robbins." Jess greets me, grinning almost from ear to ear.

"It's nice to see you too, Jess. I'm sorry had to be under these circumstances but it's still nice all the same." I smile sympathetically.

"So what room is Jess' brother in Mom?" Rory ask curiously, I can tell by the look on Jess' face it is as if Rory had read her mind and that she was thankful she didn't have to ask herself.

"He's in room 1311, but I'd like to talk to Jess for a minute before she sees him alright, Jess?" I give Jess a reassuring look as a look of panic crosses her face.

"Uh, sure." She replies hesitantly before looking over at Rory for a moment who smiles slightly back at Jess.

I motion to Jess to follow me to the smaller waiting room off the main lobby. As we enter the room I can't help but feel bad for Jess, she looks so helpless, the little color I do remember her having when I met her has now drained from her face and slight shiny lines from tear streams run down her face.

"Is everything alright with Cam, Dr. Robbins?" Jess says nervously as she takes a seat in one of the uncomfortable padded waiting room chairs.

I can't help but sigh slightly as I take the seat next to Jess, putting on my brave face because I knew this was going to be emotional for her.

"This is going to be hard for you to hear but I'm going to need you to look at the big picture, ok?" I give her an encouraging smile hoping for even the slightest response.

"Okay." Jess' voice is faint as she nods her head slightly.

As I begin to speak I notice tears are beginning to form in Jess' eyes. "Your brother is alive, but his lifestyle is going to be a lot different when he gets out of the hospital. He's lost the use of his legs because there wasn't any blood reaching his spinal cord so he will have to use a wheelchair. I'm telling you this now before you see him so you can prepare yourself."

I pause for a moment's break to let the information sink in. "He's only coming out of anaesthesia now so he's going to be confused and it's highly likely he'll be emotional. I just wanted you to know this now so you wouldn't go in there without being prepared. It's going to be hard but just trust your limits."

Jess runs her fingers back through her bangs before wiping the tears from her eyes. "Thank you." Jess sniffs. "Thank you for saving him. I understand what you meant about the big picture now." She chuckles sadly.

"You're welcome but no thanks are need. I'm glad I could help." I place a hand on her shoulder for support. I know the feeling of what it is like to lose a sibling, I know that fear she's felt because it's only the beginning of the chain of events that happen after. Thankfully I had managed to break that chain.

"You ready?" I ask, knowing that it wasn't going to do any good for her to see her brother if she wasn't ready.

She takes a deep breath before speaking, "I'm ready."

I decide to let Rory walk Jess to Cam's room as it was only across the hall from the nurses' station where Calliope and I were standing rather than taking her myself. Thankfully at this hour at night the ninety eight percent of the ped's staff were asleep in on-call rooms or at home in their own beds.

"Do you think I should have gone with them?" I ask leaning back against the counter next to Calliope.

"No, I think you made the right call on that one, Ari." She replies as she continues to read through Cam's chart. "It wasn't an aortic tear after all."

"No, it was an aortic dissection. I was talking to Maggie after we moved him into recovery while you were getting the girls from my office, turns out Cam fell down the stairs at their house not remember they were there because hadn't gotten used to the layout of the house. That happened yesterday. The fall along with his sickle cell anemia caused the dissection." I reply even though Calliope hadn't asked for the specifics.

"Well I guess its good then that Rory convinced us to go out to dinner. Otherwise you wouldn't have been there." Calliope says before putting the chart back on the counter and taking my hand.

"Speaking of Rory is it only me but does Rory have that look in her eye that I haven't seen since before the whole Casey debacle?" I look down the hall at Rory who is standing in the doorway of Cam's room. "She's known Jess for how long? A week?"

"And this is coming from the woman who proceeded to kiss me less than five minutes after she introduce herself." Calliope chuckles.

"Well, it worked didn't it." I say with slight arrogance as I swat at her playfully.

"Yes, it did work but I cease to see your point here Arizona." I look back at her to see her eyebrow raised slightly.

"My point is that she's known this girl for less than a week. She's seventeen years old, Calliope, that doesn't mean she'll learn from her mistakes. I don't want to have to put her back together again. Our daughter is too young to be broken that way once, and I sure as hell don't want it to happen twice." The tone of my voice has changed; now trying to express the seriousness of my concern.

"Hey," Calliope leans up off the counter and stands in front of me, cupping my cheek in her warm hand. "Its okay, Rory is going back to the old Rory we know and love and that is what matters, right?" She gives me a small smile.

"You do have a point." I say sheepishly.

"Of course, I do." Calliope chuckles. "She may be a teenager but she's one of the most amazing teenagers I know. She's got to make her own decisions. She's growing up and we've got to let her. Rory isn't afraid to say what she thinks and wears her heart on her sleeve like I do while caring like crazy and is a good man in a storm like you. She's becoming the person we raised her to be, Ari."

It is only after Calliope has finished speaking I realize that there are tears rolling down my cheeks. "Thanks for making me cry, Calliope." I say sarcastically before wiping the tears from my eyes.

"You love me for it." She smirks before pulling me in for a hug, wrapping her arms around my waist.

It was true; it was something I couldn't simply deny. "That I do, Calliope. That I do."

_The awkwardness between Jess and I that had existed on the walk from Mom's office to the main lobby of the ped's floor had since disappeared. I was currently in Cam's room, sitting at the uncomfortable plastic chair at the foot of his bed while Jess sat in the slightly more comfy padded chair on the side of the room, next to the heart monitor._

_After coming out of anaesthesia Cam had reacted better than expected to the news he had lost the use of his legs. He was calm but as I had watched from the doorway I could see the disappointment in his eyes. He had told their parents to go take a nap in an on call room or go home, he actually to Jess the same thing but she had refused to leave his side. Cam had drifted off to sleep around fifteen minutes ago._

"_He looks so peaceful. I'm kind of jealous." Jess breaks the silence that has been existing in the room since Cam fell asleep._

_I can't help but give her a look of confusion. "About?"_

"_It's not what you're thinking, I just meant about the sleep thing. I feel so tired as if I'm fighting sleep, yet I can manage to fall asleep." She laughs faintly._

"_I can go, if you want, so that you can sleep and not feel awkward." I can't help but chuckle a little._

"_No, no, that's okay. I have a feeling that I wouldn't be able to sleep anyhow." Jess smiles faintly, appearing almost forced._

"_Can I propose an idea then?" I ask hesitantly._

"_Well, considering your track record, I say go for it." The forced smile that had disappeared for merely a second is replaced with a genuine smile._

"_What about I ask Mom to get you a cot and we can set it up in here and you can lie down. We can talk until you fall asleep. Sound like a deal?" _

"_You, you are a genius." _

"_Well what are friends for anyhow?" I say with a smirk. _

"_What about you?"_

"_After you fall asleep?" I ask, receiving a small nod from Jess. "I've got siblings of my own to check up on, Mom and Ma are off tomorrow so I'd say they'll stay until morning rounds considering my Mom tends to check on her patients more often then most."_

_Jess smirks back at me. "Well in that case, we have a deal." _

Scrambling around the supply closet down the hall from my office was not on my list of things to do before checking on my patients yet I found myself doing it any how. Rory had asked for a cot to go in Cam's room for Jess who had refused to leave her brother alone.

"Oh, there you are," I say tom myself as I eye a sensible looking cot poking out from behind a shelf full of syringes. "Hiding away from me are you?" I begin to pull on the cot hoping it won't be too difficult to move. "This definitely was not the smartest place to put this."

"I'd have to agree with you on that one." A somewhat familiar voice coming from the doorway causes me to drop the cot, consequently knocking over a large box of syringes.

"Erica, you scared me!" I say as I turn around.

"Sorry about that." She says with a slight chuckle before swiftly walking into the room and putting the syringe box back on the shelf.

"Uhm, can I get you something or," I say awkwardly.

"No, no I just wanted to apologize." Erica's voice has become so quiet it could almost be considered a whisper. I can hear the hesitation in her tone. "I had no right to snap at you like that. I was being extremely irrational. I'm sorry, Dr. Robbins."

"I know what it's like to be on the other side of things, you don't need to apologize. I understand. It's Arizona by the way Erica. My friends get to call me by my first name." I give her a dimple clad smile hoping it will make her feel a little better about getting in my face.

"Friends, huh?" She says curiously. "How come I didn't think of that?" Erica smiles; giving me the impression that we had officially become friends.

Due to the awkwardness that had been filling room dissipating it is only now I notice that the cot is squishing my foot. "Now that we're friends, can I ask you a favour?"

"Sure."

"Uh, can you help me get this cot off my foot?" I ask, realizing I must've sounded like five year old.

Erica begins to laugh, "Not a problem, Arizona, not a problem."

"_That better?" I ask with a laugh as Jess takes a seat on the cot._

"_Yes, thank you, where have you and your great ideas been all my life?" Jess laughs as she kicks off her shoes before swinging her feet up onto the cot._

"_You do know that you have to lie back in order to sleep, right?" I say as I realized she hasn't lid back yet._

"_That is a very good point." Jess pulls the covers up over herself before lying down on her back, looking up at the ceiling._

"_So what's your brother like I've never seen him at school before? I didn't ask before because I didn't want to get you upset again." I say with a smile._

"_Thank you for that, definitely a smart move on your part." She laughs. "Cam doesn't go to our school."_

"_Oh." is the only word in my vocabulary that seems to come out of my mouth in response._

"_He's way too smart for high school. He goes to the University of Washington."_

"_Really? I never would have thought he was older than you. He only looks to be my brother, Tommy's age at the most and he's turned fifteen in October." I say with surprise ringing in my voice._

"_My brother's, uhm, his birthday was last week. So that makes him 16 now." She says with a smile._

"_Are you serious?" I look at her with my face expressing complete shock._

"_Completely, my brother's what ye common folk would call a genius." Jess chuckles. "They realized when he was 12 and had found that he had found my cousin's grade eleven trigonometry book and had taught himself the entire book during summer vacation at our family's beach house."_

"_That is one of most amazing things I've ever heard." I can't help but be amazed._

"_He's supposed to be in tenth grade but as I said he's a freshman at U-Dub, pre-med actually." I can sense the tiredness in voice._

"_That is really cool, how about you? What do you want to do after leaving the dreaded but secretly loved high school?"_

"_Uhm, not sure. I'm leaning towards being a scrub nurse like my Mom but if I had to pick any job I could haven in the entire world I'd have to say I'd want to be a genetic research to find the cure to Tay Sachs."_

"_Wow that seems like something that would be really rewarding." I smile._

"_How about you? I'm sure that you've got something interesting you want to do after high school?" _

"_I'm still not a hundred percent sure because I haven't got my acceptance letter yet but I applied for pre-med at U-Dub. If I get in I'll probably try and get into Johns Hopkins like my Mom for med school." I chuckle. "It sounds quite a tad bit ambitious I know, but I kind of picked up a few of my Mom's type A personality traits, and that is definitely is one of them."_

_I sit there waiting for Jess to respond for around a minute before realizing that she had fallen asleep. "Well I guess she was that tired after all" I think to myself._

_I sit there simply watching the blanket rapped around her rise and fall slightly with her breathing, unable to bring myself to leave without getting the answer to her earlier question off my chest. Jess may not be awake to hear me but I've got to get it out, I've got to tell her, because she'll hear it someday any how._

"_You asked me what my most embarrassing moment was and I vetoed the question, but eventually gave in and of course got interrupted. All I got out was that I had been dating Casey, who was one of my best friends, for almost six months and I thought that things were going great. Two months ago I decided to go to my physics class a few minute early, because I frankly suck at physics, it's the one science that I can't fully wrap my head around. The study of motion? It's dull and anything dull is something I can never completely concentrate solely on because my mind tends to start wandering. Just like now, because I'm rambling. I'm rambling because I'm nervous, even though you can't heart me." _

_I take a deep breath now because I can feel my hands begin to get clammy and my heart begin to quicken. _

"_Anyways, as I was saying I went to my physics class a few minutes early. I knocked on the door and I don't get a response so I open the door and there it is. Casey is making out with my physics teach. That's not the worst of it. They're so into it they don't notice that I'm standing there. They only break apart once they hear the majority of the class enters the doorway. I stood there like staring at them like an idiot, with everyone staring at me for what felt like almost an entire minute before someone says anything." _

_I stop again as I feel the tear I hadn't noticed forming rolling down my face. I wipe away the tears before continuing. "The look on her face as she realized it was me standing in front of everyone else was enough to send me running for the hills. I remember running out of the room barely able to see anything through the tears. I went to my locker which was on the opposite end of the hall and threw my physics books to the bottom of my locker. After doing that I began to pull down all of the photos of Casey and me off the door of my locker ripping them to pieces before collapsing to the floor. Matt came and picked me up off the floor before bringing me home. That was the most embarrassing moment of my life."_

_I drag myself up out of the chair, quietly lifting it back to its proper place at the side of the room. As I turn around and make it half way out the door a voice stops me dead in my tracks._

"_She'd understand, you know."_


	16. Talk

I was glad to hear that you guys enjoyed the last chapter. It was interesting to see who you all thought what speaking at the end. This chapter is written from _Rory's_ and Callie's perspective. I really hope you guys enjoy!

Fifteen. Talk

"So you don't know were you're going, and you wanna talk  
And you feel like you're going where you've been before."

- Talk, Coldplay

"You almost ready?" I ask I poke my head around the bank of lockers in the attending's locker room, checking to see if Arizona was ready to go home yet. I find her with her head stuck into her locker searching for something or another.

"Uh, almost, I've just got to bring back these" She shakes the two patient charts she has in her hand, her voice reverberating out of the locker, as I walk close to her "back to the nurses' station. Then I'm ready."

"I can bring them to the nurses' station while you," I pause for a moment not being able to coming up with an appropriate word for Arizona's endearing habit of triple checking, making sure she has everything she needs before she leaves the hospital. It wasn't unusual to find her like this; her head buried in her locker, her arms searching for a sock she may have taken off that afternoon or a specific notebook with her list of things to do or ideas for possible treatment plans for her patients that had somehow always managed to make its way to the back bottom of her locker. "While you do that." I say with a slight chuckle. Seeing Arizona like this, as if she's a ninety year old woman searching for the glasses she has on her face, never ceased to amuse me or make me smile.

"No, I got it. You can go get the SUV and meet me at the entrance. I'll be down in," Arizona doesn't get the chance to finish her sentence as her pager sitting on the wooden bench behind her begins to vibrate. "You've got to be kidding me!" Her tone has now become impatient.

I pick up the pager, "It's a 911, Ari. It's Julie Daniels."

At my words Arizona stops what she's doing. Her once impatient tone becomes completely serious. "Take the charts." She says, taking her head out of her locker. "Give me your scrubs."

My face forms a look of confusion. "What?" If Arizona wore my scrubs she'd be swimming in them.

"I said give me your scrubs, Calliope. I used my last clean pair when I operated on Cam, when I checked up on one of my patients afterwards she vomited on me. So I don't have a clean pair and I'm going to end up going into surgery. So, Calliope I need your scrubs." Her eyes help support her serious tone.

She doesn't need to say anything more. I don't respond with words, I take the charts from her hand and place them on the bench before going back to my locker and hauling out a clean pair of scrubs for Arizona.

"Here," I put the pair of scrubs on top of the charts before beginning to unbutton her shirt to help her change. I then walk behind her, taking the ponytail ring off my wrist and put her hair up as she pulls on my scrub pants.

"I'll get a ride home from one of the nurses or someone. I'll be home for breakfast baring anything goes wrong." Arizona says as she ties the drawstring as tight as she can. "I've already almost lost one kid today, I really do not want to that to happen again."

"Just relax, you'll do fine." I give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll have something ready for you when you get home, okay?"

"Okay." She gives me a quick kiss on the lips and a smile in response, "I'll see you at home." before swiftly exiting the locker room, leaving me to ponder how lucky I was to have such an amazing wife who had given Mark a run for his money and become my best friend.

"_She'd understand." Cam's voice enters my mind as I place one foot out of the door. _

_I turn around slightly, my back against the door frame. "Excuse me?" I try act like I don't know what he's talking about._

"_You heard me," he chuckles. "You know what I'm talking about, it's written all over your face." A small innocent smirk crosses his face._

_I hang my head in defeat for a moment, realizing that it was no use to try and tip toe around it, it was too late for that. "You were awake the whole time weren't you?" I look up at him with curious eyes._

"_Not the entire time, I woke up at the part when I assume Jess fell asleep." He gives me a smile that seems slightly out of place on his features, looking more like it belonged to someone's eighty year old grandfather who is watching their convocation from university._

"_Well, in that case you know the important part, I suppose." I say sheepishly, I can feel the blush beginning to creep upon my face._

"_You could call it that I guess. I get that you don't know me very well but do you want to talk about it? I can tell this is hard for you but you technically told my sister, and you told her for a reason. You're going to need to talk about it again sometime, to some who is actually going to say something and be listening." _

_I continue to look at him, weighing my options. "I don't know." _

"_Take your time then. By the looks of it I'm not going anywhere." He chuckles again._

"_I guess it can't hurt, it's not like your sister can hear us. She's as lively as a log." I chuckle slightly, making my way back to the chair I had been sitting in a few moments ago._

"_You have an excellent point there."_

"_So," There is an awkward silence filling the room._

"_This is usually the part when one of us starts to talk, in this case that person would be you." He says in an almost matter of fact like manner._

"_Well what do you want to know?" I ask trying to get comfortable in what I'm sure is the most uncomfortable chair in this hospital. _

"_We'll what do you want to tell me?" is the only thing he asks, he simply looks at me waiting for some form of response from me._

"_I'm curious why you said what you said." are the only words that come out of my mouth, unable to think of anything else to say given the situation._

"_Why I said she'd understand?" He tilts his head slightly as he talks._

"_Yeah, that."_

"_I said that she'd understand because she would. If anyone understands heartbreak it's my sister. You're not the only one with a bad break up, you know."_

"_To say it was a bad break up is the understatement of the year."_

"_Can I ask why it was the most embarrassing moment of your life?" He stresses the word 'most' as if to get a point across._

"_Well you just did." I pause for a moment as a grin crosses his face. "It's the fact that I'm always the one who's cool under pressure and never backs down from a challenging situation because that's just not who I am, it's not who I was raised to be. But with seeing Casey do something like that just broke me, everything that made me 'me' just seemed to have slipped away for that moment in time. That's why it was so embarrassing, having everyone watching me like that knowing that I'm not going to be remembered as the girl who's a good man in a storm," I can't help but notice Cam's facial expression change to a slightly confused look for a moment with the use of my last phrase. "It's that I'm going to be remembered as the girl whose girlfriend cheated on her with a teacher and had an emotional break down in the middle of the hallway for the entire student body to see."_

_My stomach is now beginning to tie itself in knots as Cam begins to speak again. "Is it the embarrassment of that moment that makes the fact that you two broke up so upsetting?"_

"_It's not the embarrassment that bothers me for the most part. It's truly the dishonesty and the fact that she was my girlfriend, my best friend, and she cheated that bothers me the most." I run my fingers through my bangs, beginning to feel frustrated. _

"_What bothers you the most? Is it that she cheated when you thought you guys were actually happy or who she cheated with?"_

_I sit there staring at the patterned blanket on the end of Cam's bed for a moment, honestly trying to think of which one out of the two made me more upset. I eventually settle on an answer._

"_A bit of both, because there's a bit more to it than that. I found out later that it had been going on the whole time, before we were even together. So the fact that we were friends before and I didn't know about any of it showed me how I really didn't know her at all. It made me feel stupid for letting myself get slammed by someone I thought I honestly was in love with when I truly barely knew them at all." I pause for a moment, trying to gain my composure, trying not to let my emotions get the best of me as they rarely do. "Then there's also the fact that it was my teacher, who was at least twelve years older, and of course was a man."_

_There is a slight look of shock on Cam's face that only lasts for a moment before quickly disappearing. "Yeah, that would definitely effect how you felt, no question. So, the girl you who was your girlfriend, the one who you considered your best friend cheated on you. Has that only affected the romantic aspects of your life, am I correct?"_

"_You'd be correct." I answer almost instantaneously._

"_Okay, I don't know you very well so I get the fact that this is awkward for you but I can tell you right now that you just lied straight through your teeth. You might not realize it but you did." _

_The look on his face is having an almost calming effect on me, he doesn't seem to be judging me, and he is just simply speaking the truth. It is as if he is genuinely trying to help. And I can't deny that I appreciate it._

"_Well it might account for the fact the only friends I had before your sister was my siblings, my best friend Matt who is like my brother, and my cousin Molly." I pull my feet up, trying to hide myself slightly behind my knees. "Mind you I never had many friends before Casey anyhow." _

"_That might have something to do with it but might not necessarily be the entire problem so don't self-diagnose. I would love to keep you talking but its 4:30 in the morning and I'm sure your parents are expecting you to be home soon, I'm sure." Cam smiles yet again, looking and sounding wise beyond his years once again._

"_I think I'll have to follow your advice on that and hit the trail. But before I go," I put my feet firmly back on the floor. _

_I don't get a chance to finish my sentence as he answers as if he's read my mind. "Ask away." _

"_How did you know who I was? I mean when I first came in with Jess right after you woke up after surgery, you knew who I was, disorientated and all." I ask genuinely curious._

"_Well my sister tends to talk about you, a lot." Cam chuckles, "And I mean that in the most non-stalker way possible."_

_I feel my cheeks warm as blush immediately begins to cross my features. "Oh." I say bashfully. _

"_Rory, before you leave I just wanted to say something. I know that this conversation is between us, I consider you a friend so I won't speak a word of it to Jess, but I just want to put my two cents in and say that I think you should tell her, because as much as you wish you didn't I can tell you like her." _

"_I'll think about it." I say as I get up out of my chair. As I make it to the doorway I stop once more. "Cam?" _

"_Yeah."_

"_Jess told me that you were pre-med at U-Dub, do you have a specialty in mind for med school?"_

"_I'm a bit on the fence between two, why?" His face expresses his slight confusion._

"_If one of them is pysch, and I'm ninety nine percent sure one of them is, just go for it." I give him a genuine smile, "Thanks Cam."_

"_Not a problem, Rory. I'll think about it." He repeats my own words back to me before chuckling and turning off the light above his bed as I leave shutting the door quietly behind me._

As I pull into the driveway I'm pleasantly surprised to find Rory's car next to mine. Getting out of Arizona's SUV I notice that there's only one light on in the house, the light was on in the basement studio; Rory's favorite room in the house.

Entering the house I can hear the faint rock music coming from the basement stairs. I hang up my leather jacket and put my purse on the kitchen counter before slowly creeping down the stairs, trying not to startle her.

The singer's voice singing lyrics from one of my favorite songs echoes quietly through the basement, "Do you feel like a puzzle, you can't find your missing piece."

"Rory?" I call out, loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to wake anyone asleep upstairs. After receiving no response I call out again, "Rory!"

Turning the corner to the studio I find her. She's standing back on to me in front of her easel staring at her canvas, wearing a pair of flannel pyjama pants that had once been Tommy's until he had grown out of them and an oversized stained white dress shirt that had been Mark's before he spilt non-alcoholic wine on it at my parent's fifth wedding anniversary party.

Just as she's about to make a brushstroke I speak, not waiting for her to start just in case I startled her, as I lean against the doorframe. "Rory, what are you still doing up?" I ask with slight concern present in my tone.

"Couldn't sleep." She mumbles almost incoherently as she begins to add to her half finished painting.

"Well I think you should try to go to sleep again because everyone else is going to be up in a few hours and then you're going to regret not trying, meija" I attempt to entice her to go back to sleep.

"I'll be fine. You and Mom are bound to be exhausted so you guys better go take a nap before everyone gets up like you said." Her words seem to be distant and her gaze doesn't leave the canvas.

"Rory," I'm about to tell her to come upstairs with me but I'm cut off.

"Night Ma." Her tone assures me that something is inevitably wrong.

"Rory, look at me." I change my own tone making it more firm; hoping it will make her turn around.

I receive a sigh as she puts her palette down on the small splotch covered wooden table next to her before slowly turning around. Her eyes are rimmed with tears and slightly bloodshot.

"Rory, what happened?"

I stand up straight beginning to walk further into the studio. I don't get very far before I feel Rory's arms wrap around my neck pulling me into a hug. "Está bien, habla justo conmigo. Nosotros lo podemos resolver juntos." I say quietly in her ear, trying to encourage her to let me in as I wrap my arms around her.

"Mamá" She says, releasing her hold slowly but surely.

"Let's go upstairs and I'll make us some hot chocolate then we can talk, okay?" I give her a reassuring smile.

I receive a response in half Spanish half English, before she begins to put away her things. "I'll be upstairs when you're ready." I say before giving her a quick kiss on the top of her head before exiting the studio, hoping that she'll be ready to tell me something soon.

We've been sitting at the counter in silence long enough for me to have my mug almost half empty. Rory hasn't looked at me since she's come upstairs. She simply sits on her stool, staring into her mug in between sips.

As I notice Rory's finger beginning to tap random beats on the counter top out of nervous habit I decide that it was now or never. "Rory, I get that you're upset but I can't exactly read minds here, that's your Mom's specialty." I receive a chuckle from Rory, which I take as I good sign. "I'm going to take a stab in the dark and if I'm wrong, tell me, but if I'm right you need to talk about or you're never going to get passed it."

"Bueno, tome a stab." She says switching between Spanish and English once again with a nod.

"This is about Casey," I pause for a moment as I realize her hold on her mug has tightened, whitening her knuckles slightly. She doesn't say anything to stop me so I continue. "But it's not just about Casey, it's also about Jess. I'm pretty sure that the two people who don't know you and Jess like each other are you and Jess. Meija, you can't let the past dictate your life."

Rory's gaze finally leaves the mug in front of her; she turns her head to look me straight in the eye. "It's not that easy, Mamá."

"I know, it's not supposed to be easy. If it was, it wouldn't mean anything."

"She's my best friend outside of Matt, and well Molly of course, and I just can't have it happen again." Tears are starting to form in her eyes.

"How do you know it will, Rory?"

"I just know it will, because I've got the worst luck." She replies with an impatient sigh before taking her mug back to her lips, finishing off her hot chocolate.

I slowly brush her bang out of her eyes, tucking it behind her ear. "No, meija, you really don't. Sure, Casey did leave you heartbroken and made you feel like you weren't you anymore, I've been there meija. Casey was someone you thought would never hurt you. I had that in a person once upon a time before I met your Mom and they hurt me just as bad or possibly worse. It makes you feel like you did something or there was something about you that made you not good enough, but there's not, sweetie. But you've got to believe me when I say it only takes one person to change that for you, and maybe that person is Jess or maybe she's not. But you'll never find out unless you try." I give her a wide smile, hoping it will make her realize that there's a large possibility that I'm right.

"How do you know?" She asks me her eyebrow furrowed slightly.

"I was broken once, and even Uncle Mark couldn't make me feel better and fix me. I had resorted to the worst medicine, going to Joe's and knocking back tequila after work. I'm warning you now, don't ever resort to it, now or when you're older, you'll regret it in the morning and later in life when you acquire liver failure from drinking too much. But one night at Joe's Aunt Lexie took a seat next to me and asked me how I was and I just started to cry, so not wanting to be seen I went to the washroom to clean myself up. After a few moments the door opens to reveals this petite perky blonde who told me that people care about me and that when I was done being upset there would be people lining up for me."

I pause for a minute chuckling to myself causing myself to smile like a goofball. "I laughed and asked her if she had any names, and before I knew it I was experiencing the best kiss of my life from a total stranger. When she pulled away she gave me the most beautiful smile I've ever seen and said 'I think you'll now.' And I couldn't help but grin like an idiot as she left. That stranger turned out to be the love of my life and your Mom. So I don't regret pursuing her even though she turned me down, twice."

Rory can't help but laugh, no matter how hard she tries to stifle it. "Mom turned you down, twice?"

"You bet she did, but she eventually changed her mind and decided to give a chance. So the moral of the story is," I pause for Rory to answer for me.

"You never know until you try and you deserve to give yourself a chance, and possibly a second." Rory chuckles, wiping the tears that form in her eyes away.

"Right. So now do you think you can go to sleep?"

"Definitely. Thanks Mamá." She gives me a small smile before getting up off her stool.

"Sueños dulces, meija."


	17. When I Look At You

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter! Jen, if your reading this I get what you were saying, I had actually removed the flashback scene all together and wrote what is currently there but fanfiction changed the words to bold and left in phrase I had wrote about it. Sorry for the confusion. This chapter is written from Callie's and _Rory's _point of view. You guys will be getting more Calzona then I've regularly been writing by popular demand as well in the next few chapters. Hope you enjoy!

**Also, I have what scholars would call final examinations in less than two weeks so unfortunately I've got to study my but off. Due to this fact I will only be posting one chapter per week until they are finished, and even that is if I get the time to do so. Sorry for the inconvenience!**

Sixteen. When I Look At You

"When there's no light to break up the dark,

That's when I, I look at you."

When I Look At You, Miley Cyrus

I manage to fall asleep almost instantly after retreating to mine and Arizona's bedroom. My eyes only open in response to the feeling of warm arms belonging to my wife wrap around me.

I take a moment to simply take in the smell of Arizona as I look at the bedside clock. I'm surprised to see that it's already eleven o'clock. "Good morning beautiful." I say, taking Arizona's hand in my own.

I receive no verbal response from her, only a stifling of a cry and a sniffle. Carefully, I roll over so that I am face to face with Arizona whose eyes are bloodshot and rimmed faintly with tears with tear streams staining her face.

"Hey, it's okay." I wipe the teats that are slowly rolling down her cheek. Before I get the chance to say anything more Arizona buries her face in the crook of my neck, tightening her hold on me as she does.

"Just tell me what happened." I say, almost whispering, before placing a kiss on top of her head of blonde curls.

It takes her a few moments to regain her composure, enabling her to speak. "She died." She sniffs before continuing. "Julie died. I tried everything in the book but I couldn't get her back. She just slipped away. She slipped away and I couldn't stop it."

We both knew this day was coming but unfortunately Arizona had become very attached over the two and a half years Julie had been her patient. Ever since we had had children there were a smaller amount of children on her ped's floor Arizona considered her own, but Julie, Julie was closest to her out of them all.

"I know it's hard, honey, I know you loved her in your own way but you've got to let go."

Julie had advanced cardio myopathy, especially considering she was eleven years old, and was unable to accept a heart transplant because of a pre-existing blood condition. Arizona had fought to keep her alive nearly the whole time she was her patient, trying every procedure she could, even those that weren't necessarily encourage by the board, trying to give her more time.

"I tried everything. I know that she didn't have all that much time left but I was hoping there would be a breakthrough at Mass. Gen. with the research they've been doing. I was hoping that they'd have a cure before her time ran out." She shakes her head, and then hangs it as if in embarrassment. "Maybe, I was being naive but I really thought they would have found the cure."

I can feel Arizona's entire body begin to shake. "Ari, honey, I need you to listen to yourself. You tried everything. You did your job to make her life the best it possibly could have been but it was simply her time. Sure, it may seem too soon for her but she doesn't have to suffer anymore. God will make sure she is safe." I say comforting her the best way I know how. I wrap my arms around her, pulling our bodies as close as possible.

"I know, I know, but it still doesn't change the fact that she'll never get to grow up and have a life of her own that is outside the four walls of a hospital room." With her words I begin to feel fresh warm tears wetting my shirt.

"It's hard I know but you've got to let her go, Ari," I begin to run my fingers through her hair trying to stop her from crying. "You can't go back. You've got to move forward. We can move forward this weekend at the cabin if you want, if you feel comfortable about leaving the kids home alone all weekend that is."

Arizona pulls away just enough to be looking me in the eye as I give her a goofy smile fully knowing that it was bound to make her smile back. I'm proven correct as a small smile revealing her dimples crosses Arizona's face. "I knew there was a reason why I married you." She chuckles through her slight cries.

"And why is that?" I smirk trying to humour her.

"Because you're a genius." The small smile on her face grows making her dimples more prominent.

I don't get a chance to verbally respond due to the breathtaking hindrance of Arizona's lips capturing mine. I involuntarily moan in response, as Arizona's hand cups my cheek. We don't separate until the need for oxygen becomes unavoidable. As I take a breath Arizona's lip begin to leave trails of kisses down the side of my face not stopping until they reach my pulse point.

"Arizona." I manage to pull my head out of the gutter and begin trying to get her to stop. "Ari." I pull away slightly, still holding onto her waist.

She looks up at me, pupils wide. Her look on her face is as if to ask what was wrong.

"It's 11:15 in the morning and I just heard the sink going in the bathroom upstairs." I say with a small chuckle.

"Children, when will they ever learn to sleep in?" She shakes her head in fake disbelief before giving me a wide smile.

Arizona hauls herself up out of bed and begins to take her now dirty clothes off. As she is changing into her casual clothes I can help but watch in amazement of how even after all this time the sight of her wearing my college sweatshirt and a pair of shorts still makes my heart beat faster.

Before leaving the room, to what I'm assuming is make the only breakfast food she knows how for the kids and ourselves, she comes to my side of the bed and kneels down. She gives me a smile sweet enough to give a cute eighty year old man with false teeth cavities. "I love you." She says almost whispering before placing an affectionate kiss on my forehead.

"I love you, and nothing will ever change that, I'm here for you no matter what." I give her a smile, "Its okay to grieve honey but don't get lost in it."

As she begins to pull away I place my hand on her cheek just as I did what seems like a lifetime ago after I had successfully protect Arizona and her patient from an unpredictable grieving man with a gun. The look on her face is as if she is reliving the moment with me.

Arizona closes her eyes for a moment as if to reset her brain and let everything wrong slip away. "I'm okay." She says before opening her eyes. "Now, who's up for banana pancakes?"

Her voice is the most cheerful I've heard it since the other night in the restaurant and I can't help be glad that I had the courage to tell her that I saw her pain and I wanted to make it better, no matter how bad it was.

After changing out of my pyjamas and into a pair of cargo pants and a sweatshirt I walk out of our bedroom to find Arizona in the kitchen singing faintly to herself, which is a rarity in itself, not including the back she was cooking.

As she whisks the eggs into the flour I can pick out the lyrics to a song I haven't heard since before the kids were born. "And you light up my life. You give me hope, to carry on." I can't help but smile as I continue to walk up behind her. "You light up my days and will my nights with songs."

Once reaching her I begin to wrap my arms around her waist only to be met with the sound of Arizona's squeal. As she turns around to face her 'attacker' she knocks over the bag of flour onto the counter. As Arizona turns around the smile that was on her face is replaced by a scowl.

"Way to go, Arizona." I almost snort. I can't help but laugh at her. "If it wasn't me who," I do not get the chance to finish my sentence as my face it hit with a cloud of flour.

Before opening my eyes I hear Arizona's giggle echo through the kitchen. "What were you saying, dear? She says through her laughter.

I wipe the flour from my eyes and mouth before speaking. "Oh no, you didn't!"

I wrap one arm quickly around Arizona's waist, a squeal escaping her mouth. With my other hand I grab one of the eggs remaining on the kitchen counter and she fights to get out of my hold.

"Don't you dare!" Arizona says as she continues to squirm.

I continue what I was doing and crack the egg over my wife's head. After throwing the shell in the sink as quickly as possible I scramble across to the other side of the kitchen to hide behind the island.

I sit in silence, waiting for Arizona to surrender for what seems like an hour before bombs in the form of eggs crash down on me. "Gotcha!" Arizona giggles from across the room.

I immediately jump out from behind the island and begin to chase Arizona around the kitchen, making the mess we had created even larger.

"Mom? Ma? What the heck are you doing?" Rory practically yells.

Arizona stops in front of me causing me to bang into her; thankfully I stop her from falling to the floor. I only now notice Rory and Addie standing in the doorway leading into the kitchen.

"Just having a little fun." I laugh, placing a kiss on Arizona's cheek, not caring that it was currently dripping with egg whites.

"Who wants breakfast?" Arizona giggles with a wide smile.

"I'll get the milk." Addie chuckles before cautiously making her way to the fridge.

"I'll get the fruit loops." Arizona responds almost instantly.

"Oh no, you two are showering before you do anything else because I personally do not want to have eggs and flour all over me when you guys lean over me to grab the cereal box." Rory follows suit, smirking before letting out a small chuckle.

I look over at Arizona who is giving me a smirk. "You've got a deal."

_After helping my parents clean up their mess in the kitchen with my sister and eating a breakfast consisting of the strange yet delightful combination of fruit loops and peaches I decided to head over to the Sloan residence to have a well needed talk with my best friend considering last night's events._

_As I pull into the driveway I notice that the light over the door is still on. "Of course they're not home. Only me would pick the strangest times to do these things." I think to myself as I put the gearshift in reverse and start to slowly back out of Matt's driveway. _

_Before I know it I'm putting on my brakes at the sight of Matt pulling open his front door standing there in his Batman t-shirt and pyjama pants waving at me. "I thought you guys were gone." I yell out as I roll down my window before pulling back up the driveway. _

"_No, Mom and Dad got called into work at 5 and left the light on outside and I didn't notice it until now." He chuckles, shaking his head in slight embarrassment._

"_Smooth moves, Matt, smooth moves." I laugh as I shut of the T-bird._

"_Well sorry, are you coming in or not?" Matt says almost sarcastically._

"_What does it look like genius?" At my words I remember the reason I came here in the first place. My conversations with Cam and my Ma had prompted this well needed conversation with Matt. _

"_You never change, do you?" He smirks as I roll up my window. _

"_Aren't you glad about that?" I say with a smile after getting out of the car. _

"_Hmm, I'll have to think about that one." Matt crosses his arm crosses his arm across his chest and swings up his other arm so that his hand is on his chin, as if he was mimicking Rodin's 'The Thinker'._

_Reaching the top of the patio steps I slap him playfully on the arm. "Why thank you, Matthew. That was very kind of you." I laugh with a smirk. "I love you too, brother." _

_He grins. We had considered ourselves practically siblings since we ten years old, thankfully that hadn't changed over the years. "Love you too, sis."_

"_So what is it this morning?" Matt asks as he takes a seat on his bed while I snatch up his gaming chair that was more comfortable than any bed could have been._

"_What do you mean?" I ask trying to avoid the subject as long as possible; I wanted to talk about it but I wanted enjoy the normalcy of the morning I've had since I've woken up, barring my parents food fight in the kitchen that is._

"_Rory, to be blunt," he pauses for a moment, "just cut the crap." He says somewhat nonchalantly. "I've known you since birth. I know when you've got something to say and are trying your best to avoid it." _

"_Fine." I half grumble, pulling my feet up in front me so that I am wrapping my arms around my calves._

"_So, as I said, what is it this morning?" Matt gives me a heart warming smile, which actually helps take the edge off. "You know me. This is a no judgement zone."_

"_Well can I ask a question first?" I request._

"_Bring it on, Rory." _

"_Why haven't you asked Molly out on a date yet?" I attempt to hide behind my knees, just keeping from my eyes up visible as a blush starts to creep across his face. There was no doubt that he was Aunt Lexie's son. "Is it because you think it's too soon, that you haven't really known her all that long?" _

_With my last comment I've somewhat given myself away. "Rory, is this about me and Molly or about something else?" Matt raises his eyebrow slightly._

"_Both." I reply honestly._

"_Well, that is part of the reason. But I haven't really known her, known her all that long. I mean I don't really want to just go jumping into things. I mean I've known her since we were kids because you, Molly, and I used to play together when they used to visit every few years from DC, remember? She's your cousin so I just don't want to start dating her and realize that she was different then who I remembered and who I thought she was and only like her a just a friend and hurt her right?" He rambles._

"_I get your point."_

"_Then again, half the fun is getting to know the other person, right?" He smiles again causing me the blush is beginning to fade slightly from his cheeks._

"_And that also is a good point." I smile and the memory of hanging out with Jess in my Mom's office asking her questions like what her favorite TV show was when she was little._

"_And if this is what I think it's about," The smile on his face chances to an almost cocky looking smirk. "Then I think you should go for it but just take it slow."_

"_Are you sure? I mean Ma and I talked about it and she said almost the same thing but I don't know." I pause, running my fingers through my bangs pushing them out of my eyes. "Ma said that I would never know what would happen if I didn't try. She ten proceeded to tell me the story of how she and Mom met." I can't help but smile remembering the look on my Ma's face when she got into telling the story._

"_Rory, I can tell by the look on your face that you're taking this really seriously, considering that this is the first time since Casey," I can't help but flinch at Matt mentioning her. "See, this is the first time I've seen you act the way you used to before Casey around someone who you don't consider family. So, yes I'm sure, you're ready and willing by looks of it." He smirks._

_I grab the closest object and throw it towards him. "Shut up, chemistry boy." I scowl._

"_I'm right and you know it." He smiles as he catches the TV remote that was intended to hit him._

"_I haven't felt this way since Casey." I shake my head, unable to contain a smirk. "I might be seeing things but I spent last night at the hospital with her when Mom had to operate on her brother," I don't get a chance to finish my sentence as I'm interrupted._

"_Is he okay?" Matt's eyes widen in concern, leaning up off the wall._

"_He's alive but he's going to be contained to a wheel chair for the rest of his life."_

"_Ouch, that's definitely going to be different. How old is he, I've never seen him around school?" _

"_He's Mark's age but he's a pre-med student at U-Dub. He's a genius." I chuckle. "And he knows about Casey, and my feelings about Jess." I can feel the blush beginning to flush my face._

"_How does he know about all that?" His face contorts in confusion._

"_I'll get to that in a minute." I assure him. "I sweat with some of the looks she gives me she might feel the same way about me as I do about her." I notice Matt's smile widens as I speak. "She blushed simply because when we were sitting on the couch in my Mom's office her feet landed on mine when she put them up on the couch. Do you think that means anything?"_

"_I think that you think that it means something, therefore I think it means something. So as I asked earlier, how does Cam know all about Casey and your feelings about his sister?"_

"_I'll address this first question first. Me and Jess were asking each other questions trying to get to know each other and she asked me what my most embarrassing was I vetoed it so she dropped it. But later on once she had fallen asleep I told her all about Casey and Cam found out because he woke up and heard it. And he knows about my feelings for Jess because apparently it's obvious to everyone besides her."_

_Matt gives me a look, "I could have told you that."_

"_Is it weird that when I feel bad about losing my Grandpa or anything else that makes me feel just upset in general when I look at her I feel better? Its crazy I know but it's true." I can't help but smile at the look on Jess' face when she smile for the first time after we entered my Mom's office._

"_It's not weird, it's good." He smiles. "I think you've made up your mind, Ror. Just go talk to her already." _

"_Only if you ask Molly out on a date." I give him a look, as if to say 'You do this or I'll be somewhat pissed at you.' _

"_You've got yourself a deal, Ror." Matt leans towards me. "Go get your girl."_


	18. Never Too Late

I'm glad you guys enjoyed seeing more Calzona. There will be of them in this chapter as well as Rory and Jess of course. I never ceased to be amazed at your guys' reviews; they always seem to make my week. Thank you guys for taking the time to read and appreciating my writing. This chapter is from Arizona's and _Rory's_ perspective. I hope you enjoy!

Seventeen. Never Too Late  
"It's been too long and we've been down and out without laughter,  
No smiling just tears."  
- Never Too Late, Hedley

After cleaning up the breakfast dishes with Addie, Calliope and I decided to tell the kids that we were going to be gone for the weekend. It was especially times like these I was thankful we had kids we were able to trust. We had put Rory in charge and Calliope had called Mark to check up on them every once in a while. As usual we had told the kids to have their cells on at all times.

"They'll be okay won't they?" Calliope asks as she shuts the hatch after placing our suitcases in the back of my SUV.

"Of course they will, why wouldn't they be?" I ask chuckling slightly.

"I may have came home to find an upset daughter of ours painting at five in the morning." She replies tentatively as she takes shotgun.

"You what?" I practically whip my head around, looking at Calliope with widened eyes. "Why didn't you say something about this earlier?"

"Because I was trying to cheer you up." She gives me a small smile. "And I think I fixed the problem." She proceeds to chuckle.

"And what problem was this?" I ask raising an eyebrow, even though I have somewhat of an idea.

"I'll tell you once we get on the road because if we don't get on it soon we're not going to get to the cabin until lake. And then,"

I cut Calliope off, already knowing what she was going to say. "We'd miss sunset. I know." I giggle slightly as I put the car in reverse and begin to back out of the driveway.

"It's not my fault that you're a sucker for them. And that it takes you forever to pack." Calliope chuckles, receiving a playfully slap on the arm from me after I put the car into first gear. She had taught me how to drive standard after our one year anniversary when she had finally bent on the 'Callie is the only one allowed to drive the T-bird' rule.

"You know me I like to be prepared, and stop trying to change the subject." I smirk, letting on to the fact that her tactics on trying to get me to go faster weren't exactly going to work.

"Who says I was changing the subject?"

"I did, so spill." I say in my best cop voice which causes Calliope to laugh. "Did I say that you could laugh?" I keep my face serious as I glance over at her slightly.

"No, Ma'am." She attempts to stifle her laugh but it eventually comes out anyhow. "Sorry, I just didn't want to worry you. I think I handled it."

"Calliope would you just tell me already, you're killing me here by not tell me." I almost half yell at her as I turn onto an on ramp. She truly knows how to push my buttons; she knows how much it bothers me when a person dances around a subject for so long without any details.

"When I got home I found Rory downstairs, paint brush and palette in hand, staring at that piece of canvas she hasn't touch in months. She actually added something to the painting Arizona." Calliope gives me a wide grin before continuing. "To someone that doesn't know her it wouldn't seem like such a big deal but you know that she hasn't been able to paint since your father passed away."

The scowl that has been on my face is replaced by a blossoming smile. "And this is upsetting why?" My tone has automatically changed to my usual excited pitch.

"It's not the painting thing that upset her. You and I both know that she has a crush on Jess," Calliope pauses as if waiting for a reply. She only continues after I give her a nod in response. "She got upset because she didn't want to act on it only to be dropped on her ass again and be hurt. But do you know what I told her?"

I'm slightly hesitant even though I know I was sight when we were fighting at the point in time in our relationship when kids became the subjects of fights. Calliope was a great mom, no, she was the best mom. She was even better than I imagined she would be. I was extremely thankful that I had realized that I didn't need to be afraid of change and that moving forward with Calliope and having children would be a good thing. Turns out it was for amazing than I could have ever dreamed.

"What did you say?" I ask giving her a smile brought on by the memory of the look on Calliope's face when she found out we were pregnant.

"I told her a little anecdote about a certain perky blonde that changed my life in ways I didn't think were possible and that it only took one person to make your life turn around. I told her to not make the mistakes I made and to live life because she'll never know unless she tries." Out of the corner of my eye I can see my favorite goofy grin crosses Calliope face, making my heart skip a beat.

"Have I ever told you that you are the best Mom ever?" I chuckle; thankful that Calliope definitely was not and never was the 'newborn' I thought she was.

"Uh huh, and I believe I told you that we tie for that award." She chuckles as she takes my hand after I put the car into the appropriate gear for the freeway. "Thank you for giving me the chance to be a Mom along side the most amazing woman in the world." She lifts my hand to her lips, placing a kiss on the top of my hand before bring our hands back down to rest on top of the center console.

"No regrets?"

Calliope's words are like a beautiful symphony to my ears. "No regrets."

* * *

_Not long after making my deal with Matt I find myself in SGMW Hospital parking lot sitting there in my car, unable to bring myself to get out. I was not the type to go back on deals or promises but right now I couldn't help but consider the possibility of starting my car and getting out of this parking lot as soon as possible._

_I look out my windshield to find a joyful looking redhead woman being pushed to her car by an orderly as she holds the hand of brunette woman. I can't help but chuckle, putting my hand over my eyes. In its own twisted way it was near impossible to not consider this a sign. I am reluctant but I force myself open the door to my car to get out fully knowing that the results could be disastrous. _

_As exit the elevator onto the ped's floor I receive a few smiles and pleasantries from some of the nurses who are usually on my Mom's service. After reaching Cam's door I take a deep breath before knocking on the open door, careful not look in knowing that it was likely that was bound to make me more anxious._

"_Come on in." Cam's voice echoes through the room, reaching the doorway._

"_Hey Cam." I pause as I enter the room and notice that Cam is the only person in the room. "How's it going?" I smile hoping that he's feeling just as good as he was last night. I was actually extremely surprised at his strength after he had received the new that he wasn't going to be able to walk again._

"_Pretty good actually. You got to love cable TV and physiology." He holds up a text book the size of an encyclopedia with a chuckle._

"_Sounds like some interesting stuff. What topic?" I ask genuinely curious._

"_Respiratory. Personally not my favorite subject but it's better than watching soap operas all day long like I would if I was a 70 year old woman."_

_I can't help but laugh at his joke, "That is true." I say with a smile._

"_I'm assuming you're not here to see me per say due to the look that was on your face when you walked in." Cam says as if he's completely okay with having some alone time. _

_I immediately begin to feel blush cross my face out of embarrassment, "Since you're a mind reader I'll have to come clean on that one." I smile sheepishly._

"_I guess you are now." He chuckles. I'd have to give him credit; he was definitely quite the optimist._

"_I was actually looking for Jess but she's obviously not here." I say nervously._

"_Oh, I see." His tone implies that he understands what I meant. "She left for home about an hour and a half ago."_

"_Well I'll guess I'll see her at school on Monday then," Nervous laughter automatically leaves my mouth. _

"_Well, you could always go to our house you know." There he goes again with that grin. "I'm assuming you didn't simply come here to see how she was. Am I correct?"_

"_See there you go with that whole mind reading thing again." I smile. "After talking it out I decided that it was best to get everything out in the open. Let the fresh air get at it and rid of anything that taints it. But I don't want to intrude, considering your family had a rough day yesterday."_

"_Rory, I don't know you very well but I can tell by your behaviour that if you don't tell her now you're going to have a hard time telling her later. Even harder time than you're having now." He gives me a sympathetic look._

_It doesn't take a genius like him to know that he's right. "Do you think I should tell her?"_

"_Do _you_ think you should?" He asks, emphasizing the first 'you'._

"_Cam, can you stop being so shrinky and just answer my question?" I pause for a moment before adding a small please._

"_I don't think that shrinky," he uses air quotes around his last word, "is actually a word."_

"_You know what I mean. Can you please just answer my question because you know her better than I do and I really need to know if she's going to take this bad and freak out."_

"_Well are you going to freak out?"  
_

"_Well I'm going to be nervous, even more than I am right now. But unless she completely freaks out then I'll be fine. So Cam," I pause to give him a slight glare jokingly, "will you please answer my question."_

"_She's going to freak out," With his words my stomach drops. "But it's going to be an internal good type of freaking out, though." He quickly adds with a chuckle, as a look of relief almost immediately crosses my face._

"_So I should do this?" I ask nervously one more time just to be a hundred percent sure on my decision._

_Cam gives me a reassuring smile. "You should do this."_

* * *

"Geez, Arizona did you add bricks to this thing when we stopped at that convenience store and I went in to get you a Popsicle?" Calliope asks as she lifts the suitcase out of the back of my SUV.

"Uh no, I leave my stash of bricks at home for Karev and Erica." I say with my tone completely serious even though I was only joshing her.

As she puts the suitcase down on the gravel driveway she turns around. The look of shock on her face was enough to make me giggle. "I'm kidding, Calliope."

I take the suitcase and begin to roll it behind me as I head towards the cabin. As I reach the front steps I realize she is still standing there shell shocked and I can't help but smirk.

"Are you coming or not?"

* * *

_As I stand on the small patio outside Jess' house, waiting for someone to answer the door I can't help but feel knots in my stomach. I felt like a thirteen year old boy who's about to ask his best girl friend to their first junior high dance. I only realize I had begun pacing as the door opens once I reach the opposite side of the patio facing the edge of the street._

"_Rory?" The perplexed voice of Jess' Mom now enters my conscience. This takes me by surprise causing me to trip over my own feet. _

_I hear a gasp which I assume has come from Jess' Mom. I only respond as I land on the front lawn. "Uh, hi Ms. Allaway." I say completely embarrassed which is probably supported the rosy blush now crosses my features._

"_Rory, honey, are you ok?" Her tone is worried and her words rushed as she hurries down the two steps to the front lawn. She sticks her hand out as for me to take, "Here, let me help you up."_

"_Thanks." I smile sheepishly as I take her hand as she helps pull me up off the ground._

"_Are you alright, Rory?" I only now notice that Jess' mom's face is flushed slightly as well._

"_Yeah, I'm fine. My clumsiness tends to get the better of me sometimes." I chuckle throw the pain I'm currently feeling._

_As Ms. Allaway goes to move her bangs out her face, something that Jess has picked up from her I'm sure, she stops and stares at her hand. She holds her hand out to me and I realize what's wrong. Her palm is smeared with blood, which I know is obviously mine._

"_I'm so sorry, I didn't realize," I begin to ramble out an apology but she cuts me short._

"_Don't worry about it, Rory. I think it would be best that you come in and clear out that cut because it does look particularly nasty." She gives me an apologetic look. _

_I only now look down at my hand to see that there wasn't just a small cut like you'd expect, it was more like a gash straight down the middle of my palm. "No wonder you're feeling pain, doofus." I think to myself._

"_I've been telling Erica ever since we've moved here that a rock garden among all this grass does not count at a garden. That woman can be so stubborn so times." Ms. Allaway smiles, the blush that was on her cheeks becomes more prominent for a moment._

"_It's okay I definitely didn't inherited my Ma's graciousness. Considering how clumsy I am sometimes I'm glad that I've never met my father, that man must be a complete wreck." I chuckle trying to make light of the situation and loosen the knots that my stomach was inevitably tied in._

_She gives me a sympathetic smile before chuckling herself. "Erica's got more than one first aid kit in the house, so we'll manage to clean that," she pauses for a moment, "I was going to say cut but that is definitely deeper than a simple little cut, huh?" She smiles._

"_I'll have to agree with you on that one." I chuckle nervously._

"_Come on, let's get you cleaned up before it starts to get infected." She says motioning for me to follow her as she walks up the patio steps. _

_As I step into the porch I can't help but be amazed. From the outside of Jess' house it did look quite large but I'm awestruck at the cathedral ceilings outlined with dark wooden beams which accent the red living room attached to the porch._

"_You can take a seat in the laundry room there." She opens a door on the wall adjacent to where I am standing to reveal an airy room with an island counter with a sink in the middle and two stools. "I'm sure you're not here to make small talk with me, so I'll get Jess for you."_

_Before I even get the chance to stop her out of anxiousness she's gone. I'm left alone with my nerves which I am sure are going to be the death of me._

* * *

After unloading my SUV Calliope had decided she wasn't going to let me do anything, "I'm spoiling you this weekend. We haven't had 'us' time in a while and you deserve to just relax" is what she had said. We had been at the cabin for all of fifteen minutes before she had turned on the stove and started to make her chicken picatta, which she of course knew was my favorite.

"So what's new? I feel like I haven't had an actually conversation that wasn't about the kids in forever." I say as Calliope hands me a container of strawberry yogurt for dessert before taking a seat next to me on the patio. "I haven't smiled as much, I haven't laughed as much. I used to cry all the time. But now that I'm here with you and I feel like myself I want to smile so hard that it hurts and laugh until I cry."

"I promise you this weekend all that will , let's see. What's happened recently?" She says wrapping her arm around my shoulder, causing me to kick off my shoes and curl up next to her, resting my head against her. "You know Hannah, right? My spinal curvature patient."

I nod my head in response, "The one whose always wanted to ride a bike right?"

"Yes, her. Well I had my surgery on her at the beginning of last week and I swear that I could have done it blindfolded. It was as if a routine procedure. She's finally going to be able to ride a bike like normal kid." I can tell there's a wide smile on Calliope smile even though I'm not even looking at her.

"That's amazing, Calliope. I bet she was so excited." I can't help but amazed at Calliope, her compassion is one for the books.

"She was more excited than I've ever seen her."

"And that's because of you, don't forget that." I'm usually not the type to say that as doctors we have control of someone's life or even death but I know from reading Hannah's case files that if it hadn't been Calliope on that surgery it's likely she never would have been able to the things she wanted to as she got older.

"Stop it." She says; I can hear the embarrassment in her tone.

"Fine." I giggle. "Do you want some of this yogurt?" I ask trying to relieve her embarrassment.

"You know I don't like yogurt."

"But it's strawberry, Calliope. You love strawberries. It's not the icky vanilla kind that gives you a headache. It's great. Come on, have some." I turn around so that I'm holding a spoonful of yogurt in front of her face.

"I'm good, Ari." She gives me a look which assures me even more than she doesn't want anything to do with my yogurt.

Even so I continue to push her buttons because I know she's enjoying this just as much as I am. "Are you sure Calliope? You're missing out." I pause for a moment, hearing her take a deep breath. "Fine then, more for me."

"Just give me some of the darn yogurt, Arizona." She sighs, as she shakes her head in defeat.

I can't help but smirk at her attempt to resist me, and my strawberry yogurt, as I turn around even more, inching the spoon closer to her mouth. As she finishes the spoonful I notice a glob of yogurt on her upper lip. It takes everything I have not to giggle at my wife.

"Calliope, must you always make a mess."

She looks as me curiously. "I don't see a mess, and you're the one with the spoon there anyhow Sherlock."

I lean forward and place my container of yogurt, which also contains the spoon Calliope was referring to, on the patio coffee table. I turn my body sideways as lean back.

I say as I lead towards her, "You've got yogurt right," I don't finish my sentence as I capture her lips with my own, removing the glob of yogurt in the process. "There." I say with a small smirk as I pull away.

"What is it with you and food lately?" Calliope chuckles as she wraps her arms around my waist pulling me closer.

"I just love food okay" I joke. "But you know what?" I try to make it look like I'm thinking harder than I actually am.

"What, Arizona."

"I love you even more." I smirk.

Calliope chuckles slightly before placing a tender kiss on the top of my head. "I love you too, Arizona."

Right now in this moment I can't believe I ever had a doubt about her and what I really wanted, I should have always known; her.


	19. Ready To Love Again

Hey guys, I've got finals this week and part of next week so I've been trying to steer away from the writing to get some studying done but unfortunately the TV in my head doesn't pause when I want it to. **Due to exams and such I won't be updating until the weekend or possibly Tuesday of next week. Sorry for the delay. This **chapter is from Arizona and _Rory's_ perspective there is also a **flashback** in the chapter as well. I hope you guys enjoy!

Eighteen. Ready To Love Again

"I'm ready to feel now, no longer am I afraid to fall down.  
It must be time to move on now, without the fear of how it might end."  
- Ready To Love Again, Lady Antebellum

_After waiting what feels like forever I'm pulled out of my thoughts by the sight and sound of the first aid kit being placed on the island. I'm surprised as I look up, expecting it to be Jess' mom, when I see Jess opening the plastic container._

"_Hey." She says with a smile as she takes a seat on the stool next to me. "I thought Mom was only joking when she told me I'd need this." Jess chuckles slightly._

"_I failed to mention the other night the fact that I'm quite accident prone." I can't help but wince as I unintentionally stretch my fingers out, consequently pulling my cut open wider._

"_Well I know now." She gives a sympathetic smile. "This is going to hurt." She says as she places the alcohol swab I only now notice she's opened on my palm._

_As pain shoots through my palm I bite my lip. "Don't worry, I know it hurts but I know what I'm doing."_

"_And I have no idea what I'm doing." I say without thinking; unfortunately I had inherited my Ma's quality of speaking without any input from my brain to attempt at stopping myself._

"_What?" Jess gives me a confused look as she puts the swab back the package it came from._

_I'm tempted to pass it off as nothing but a deal's a deal. I had to do this no matter how awkward and nerve wrecking it was._

"_I've got to talk to you. And I really shouldn't be doing this while you're fixing up my hand but if I don't say it now I'm never going to get it out." My words come out rushed and in all likelihood don't make any sense to her._

_Jess takes a deep breath as she looks down at the first aid kit on the counter. She looks up at me as she takes out some bandages, gauze, and antiseptic ointment. "Okay, shoot." She gives me a reassuring smile that somehow makes the butterflies currently fluttering in my stomach go away._

"_You asked me what my most embarrassing moment was and I shied away from it, not wanting to talk about it. There's a reason why I didn't want to tell you." I take a deep breath before continuing; thankfully the smile on Jess' face doesn't fade. "I'm sure you've noticed that I don't have many friends other than Matt and Molly."_

"_Yeah, I kind of picked up on that." She chuckles slightly._

"_There's a reason for that. I used to have more friends, they were mainly my friends because they were friends with who I went out with but they were my friends none the less, if that makes any sense to you." I receive a small nod from Jess which prompts me to continue. "I went out with Casey for six months and she became my best friend, other than Matt of course," I can't help but stop and chuckle for a quick moment at the look on Matt's face when I started to rant somewhat this morning. "And I fell in love with her. I thought Casey and I were perfectly happy. Of course, I was wrong." I can feel the tears starting to form in my eyes._

"_Sadly I don't think you'd be sitting here if you were right." Jess says as she surprisingly places her hand on my knee for support._

"_I know, right?" I chuckle sadly with a sniff. "So anyway one day last May I decided to go to my physics class a few minutes early for some extra help because physics is the one science I wish would just disappear from the face of the earth." Jess chuckles causing me to pause for a moment. "So I knocked on the door and got no answer to I decided to go on in. As soon as I open the door I immediately regret it. Casey is there making out with my teacher, who also happens to be a man at least fifteen years older than her, and they're too into it to even notice that I'm standing there. Eventually the rest of the class begins to pile into the doorway and I'm standing there absolutely speechless." I can feel the tears begin to run down my face now as I look Jess straight in the eye._

"_The look on her face made my stomach churn. I couldn't stand to be there any longer staring at them like an idiot so I ran out of the room to my locker. After opening it I threw my physics books in the bottom of my locker and tore down every photo of me and Casey, ripping them in half. It eventually leads to me crumpling to the floor in tears and pretty much having a breakdown in the middle of the hall. Matt had to bring me home and I didn't come to school for almost a week. I learnt later that it was going on before we were even together, Casey and I were great friends before we even started dating, so the fact that I didn't know made me feel even more like an idiot. Turns out my ex-girlfriend didn't love me. She loved vintage cars."_

_The cries I've been holding back are now undeniable and escape my lips no matter how hard I try to stop them._

* * *

Calliope had gotten up and went into the cabin a few minutes ago, saying she had to get something a few minutes leaving me outside on the patio alone to ponder my own thoughts after she had finished telling me about her week.

She returns carrying a small material bag I recognize well from my drawer in our bedroom's ensuite at home. I had leaned back against the patio couch's arm as she left earlier causing her take a seat, pulling her feet into my lap. Calliope gives me a grin as she places the bag in my lap.

"I know that you do it at home to relax, so I thought maybe I could do it for a change?" She asks somewhat sheepishly with slightly blush beginning to creep across her face.

"What did I ever do deserve such a thoughtful wife?" I smile as I learn forward to place a kiss on Calliope cheek. "Of course you can. I'll even let you pick the color." I chuckle.

"Arizona, how do you always make me seem like I'm a five year old?" Calliope laughs. "Seriously, you'll let me pick?" She emphasizes the word 'let', trying to prove her point.

"Well I could just not let you do it at all and go take a nap," I too emphasize the word 'let' just as she did, trying to get a rise out of her.

"Oh grow up Arizona." She playfully slaps my leg before opening my bag to reveal my toe separators and numerous bottles of nail polish.

"Well just pick a color, Calliope." I chuckle as I lean back against the arm of the patio couch, closing my eyes. "Hey that tickles" I laugh as Calliope places the separators between my toes.

"If you don't stop moving you're going to have nail polish on more than just your toes, Ari." Calliope says with false seriousness, I had picked up quickly when Calliope was fooling around and trying to fool me with fake seriousness when we first got together; she hadn't been able to pull many over on me since.

"Oh sure, Calliope. I thought as surgeon as such as yourself would have better hand-eye coordination." I say countering her fake seriousness with my own.

"Well I thought that you of all people would know I'm good with my hands." Calliope says, I don't need to see her face to know that she's smirking suggestively like a teenage boy.

"Calliope!" I open my eyes and lean forward as I can't resist the urge to slap her across the arm.

"What? Did I say something?" She looks at me as if she has no idea what I was going on with.

"Oh yes, little Miss Innocent." I roll my eyes as I lean back. "Just pick a color, Calliope, just pick a color."

* * *

"_So that, that would have to be my most embarrassing moment." I manage to get out through my blubbering._

_Within an instant I'm in shock. Jess gets up off her stool and wraps her arms around me pulling me into a hug. I don't say anything, I simply can't. I know I should but it is as if I've forgot to speak._

_As Jess pulls away she gives me a reassuring smile. "I'm not generally a huggy person but after that you definitely deserved a hug." _

_My only reaction is to chuckle, it seemed like such an inappropriate thing to do but it was the only thing available to come out of my mouth._

"_You honestly didn't have to tell me that. I would have let it go, you know?" She says as she sits back down on her stool, taking my hand and begins to rub some antiseptic ointment on it with a q-tip._

"_I know you would have but I told you because you need to know that in order to understand me. You need to know that because I want you to know how I think. And right now I think that you have no idea what I'm going on with." I chuckle with a sniff as I close my eyes in frustration; thinking I'm not making any sense._

_Again, I'm taken by surprise as I feel a soft, warm hand on my cheek wiping away the last ears running down my face. Opening my eyes I find Jess' ice blue eyes looking into mine._

"_I have somewhat of an idea." She says continuing to smile at me._

"_You do?" I can't help but ask because I currently feel like such an idiot. _

"_I do." Jess says as slowly takes her hand from my face._

"_So I'm not crazy and this isn't all in my head?" Jess just nods in response, causing me to continue. "So now you see why I was extremely nervous and rambled like a moron?"_

"_I definitely don't think you're a moron." She giggles causing a smile to cross my own face in return. "And I also definitely think that you should continue with what you were saying because I have a feeling that that wasn't all of what you wanted to say." _

* * *

"Okay, all done." Calliope says cheerfully as she pulls the toe separator out from between my toes. "Be careful because they're not dry yet."

"Okay, who's treating who like a kindergartener now?" I smirk as I lean forward to see what color Calliope has picked.

"Oh shush, you." Calliope sticks her tongue out at me as she closes the bag containing my pedicure set.

I can't help but chuckle as I notice what color she's picked. It's a pale pink that is almost the same shade as my scrub cap. It also brings me back over ten years previous in my memory.

* * *

"**Momma!" The voice of five year old Rory is the first thing I hear as I shut the door exiting the garage entering the porch as I come home from work.**

**A small body of who I assume is Rory collides with my shins, wrapping her arms tightly around my legs. "Hey baby! How was your day?" I ask cheerfully while I balance my bag on arm as I bend down to pick her up.**

"**I had a lot of fun with Matt at daycare. When Mommy picked me up we went to that place with all the v-ve," Rory stops, stumbling over a word. I immediately know what she's talking about so I decided to give her a hand so doesn't feel embarrassed. Rory was extremely intelligent for her age, she was able to name all fifty states but for some odd reason she always had trouble with the word vegetables, thankfully that doesn't stop her from eating them.**

"**You mean vegetables, right sweetie?" I give her an encouraging Tsmile.**

"**Yes, v-ve." Sadly she still is unable to pronounce it.**

"**Try and sound it out. Vege" I give her first syllable.**

"**Vege." She slightly smiles as she repeats what I've said.**

"**Ta"**

"**Ta." The smile grows a little bit more, beginning to show off her dimples.**

"**Bles."**

"**Bles."**

"**Now put them together, vegetables."**

"**V-vegetables." She stutters slightly but is able to get it out.**

"**See there you go. Give me five." I smile holding out my hand for her to give me a high five.**

**The smirk on her face doesn't dissipate as she slaps my hand. As she pulls her hand away I feel a slightly sticky substance on my fingers. I look at my hand to see bubble gum pink nail polish on my fingers.**

"**Can Momma see your fingers, sweetie?" I ask curiously.**

**Rory holds her fingers out proudly. Her fingers up to the first joint are cover in bubble gum pink nail polish that is still wet. I don't get a chance to make any comments or inquire further about the nail polish as Calliope walks into the room.**

"**Welcome home." Calliope gives me a quick kiss on the cheek as she takes my bang from my shoulder. "How was your day, Ari?" **

"**Yeah, Momma did you fix any boo-boos?" Rory asks excitedly.**

"**My day was great, thank you for asking." I return the favour, kissing Calliope on the cheek before beginning to make our way further into the house. "And yes, sweetie, I did fix some boo-boos today. How about you go play with Mark while Mommy and I make dinner, okay?" I give Rory a smile as I put her down as we reach the kitchen.**

**I don't have to tell her twice. Rory scurries out of the room to the living off the kitchen. As soon as she's out of earshot I look at Calliope with a confused look before speaking. "Would you care to explain why our three year old daughter has my nail polish on her fingers and not just her fingernails?"**

**I now make my way to the sink, turning it on to rid my hands of any nail polish that had managed to cling to my fingers. I don't receive an answer from Calliope until the water is shut off. I turn around to find her grinning from ear to ear chuckling like I had just said something highly amusing.**

"**Our kids are amazing you know that?" She says as she walks over to me, placing her hands on either side of me so I'm slightly pinned between her and the counter.**

"**I know that, silly but that doesn't explain why Rory has on the same amount of nail polish on one finger that I'd use for at least three fingers." I chuckle slightly, as the sight of the look of pride on my daughters face crosses my mind.**

"**When we were on the way home from the market after I picked her up from daycare and pick Mark up from his play date at Meredith's I we got home we'd have time to do one thing fun before you got home and we had supper. So I asked her what she wanted to do and she had said that she wanted to paint her nails. I had never her seen her interested in anything to do with nail polish or makeup before so I decided to humor her and told her that we could to that when we got home. When we got home and I had put down a place mat on the kitchen table I asked her what color she wanted. I had expected her to pick either navy or dark purple, but no, she had chosen the bubble gum pink. So I unscrewed the top and was about put the first coat on, as soon as I came close to her with the brush she pulled away. I looked at her curious and asked her why she pulled away."**

**Calliope pauses for a moment and chuckles to herself, if it's possible the smile on her face grows even wider. **

"**She had said that wanted to do it herself because she wanted to be pretty like you. I smiled at her and said that she was already pretty and didn't need nail polish to make her pretty. This is the best part; do you know what her reply was?"**

**I can feel slight tears beginning to prick at the corners of my eyes. I slowly nod my head in response because I have no idea what my daughter had said.**

"**She looked up at me with the most innocence in her voice you could imagine and said, 'I do need it, because it's not fair.' I of course was more than slightly confused but I let her continue on. She said 'It's not fair that everyone says we have the same eyes so I'm pretty like you. It's not fair to Momma so I want to put on my own pink nail polish so I can be pretty like Momma and you.'" **

**With Calliope's story of my daughters words I begin turn to goo; the tears that had been pricking in my eyes are now rolling down my face surely creating mascara trails in their wake.**

"**Rory really said that?" I say in almost disbelief at my daughter's wise words.**

**Calliope wipes away tears from my eyes. She looks me directly in the eye before speaking again. **

"**She did. But you know what? That kid's got your dimples and that's all she'll ever need to be pretty to me or anybody else in this world." Calliope's words are added euphony to my ears. **

**She places a tender kiss on my forehead and whispers. "I love you, Arizona."**

"**I love you too, Calliope." I wrap my arms around her waist, making the space between us smaller so that I can feel her warmth; not only from her skin, but also from her breathtaking heart.**

* * *

"_You're going to make me say it aren't you?" I can feel the blush rising to my cheeks._

"_You got that right." Jess chuckles with a smirk as she begins to wrap my hand with gauze._

"_I'm the type of person who puts fifty foot walls around me to protect myself from getting hurt even more after something happens to me. But you, you come here with your adorable smile and amazing blue eyes and make me turn to goo. I'm ready to lean in to the fear because you'll never know what could have been if you don't try." I immediately begin to smile involuntarily "I know that I've known you for less than a week but there's just something there. I feel it, and I can tell by the look on your face you do too."_

_The small smirk that was on Jess' face has grown so that she is almost smiling from ear to ear. _

"_All I know about you it what I've learnt from the past five days and I've liked what I've heard. And I want to know more, I want to know everything. Half the fun is getting to know the other person, right?" I chuckle, truly hoping I'm not sounding like a rambling idiot. "So, will you go on a date with me?"_


	20. Psalm

There's only two more chapters left folks and I'm playing with the idea of a sequel focusing on Callie and Arizona's son, Mark. The sequel would also give you a dose of Rory & Jess and Calzona of course. So I'd really like to know what you guys of that idea, please let me know with a review so I can get to work! This chapter is written in _Rory's_ and Callie's perspective. I hope you guys enjoy! And again I don't know Spanish so anything in Spanish is done by a translator so forgive the highly likely bad grammar.

Nineteen. Psalm 

"And often it happens you know.  
The things you don't trust are the one's you need most."  
- Psalm, Hey Rosetta!

As Arizona and I walk into the house the first the first thing we notice is the sound of Rory's voice echoing through the house. "Tiene que me estar bromeando! Mi soy yo tal idiota?"

Arizona gives me a look of concern as she shuts the door behind her. "Rory, honey?" Arizona calls out to Rory. We only receive a loud bang from the kitchen.

I give Arizona a look before putting down my bang and heading for the kitchen. Arizona takes me hands and follows me to the kitchen. We find Rory standing in the middle of the kitchen wearing a pair of oven mitts holding onto a dish that I assume has just come out of the oven.

"Can you pick that up please?" Rory voice is slightly raised now as she nods down at the floor. I only now notice that there is a cooling rack on the floor. I pick it up and put it on the counter. "Thank you." Rory lets out a sigh of relief as she swiftly places the dish on the cooling rack.

"Rory, what are you doing?" Arizona pipes in from behind me. I only now notice that my daughter is only wearing a bra and a pair of khaki cargo shorts.

Rory swiftly pulls of her oven mitts, tossing them on the counter. "I thought you guys weren't supposed to be home until tomorrow?"

"We decided to come home early so that we could see your brother's game tomorrow afternoon." Arizona replies before I get the chance to. "But that doesn't answer my question." Arizona looks at her curiously.

"I'm running late, that's what I'm doing." She says as she looks down at her watch.

"Late for what? Why are you cooking if there's no one here?" I realize the probable answer as the words escape from my mouth but I decided to hear it from her to be sure.

"I didn't think you guys were coming back so I invited Jess over." I can't help but notice the slight blush that crosses her cheeks at her words.

"And you plan on wearing that?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"No, Mom" She scowls slightly. "I said earlier I'm running late. Jess is supposed to be here," she pauses for a moment as she glances back down at her watch, "right now."

"Is this a date thing or just a friend thing? If it's the former we'll get out of your hair right, Calliope?" Arizona says almost innocently as she walks up close to me, intertwining our arms as if to soften me up.

"Honey, she's making quiche, Rory never makes quiche. This is definitely a date." I give Rory a smirk. "Go put on a shirt and I'll finish up here."

"Thank you." Rory looks at me as if I've just told her I've bought her a life supply of paints.

"No problem, hija. Just have a good time okay?" I say before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Mom and I will be watching a movie in our room if you need us." Arizona smiles, then glances at me.

Rory gives us a grin, showing off her dimples. "I probably don't say this often enough but you two. Best parents ever." She says quickly before practically running out of the kitchen.

Arizona leans up and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "Our kids? Best kids ever." She smirks.

"So are you going to help me or you going to snacks for the movie we're apparently watching?" I ask curiously.

It honestly didn't surprise me that Arizona hadn't opted for going out to dinner tonight considering Rory obviously had a very important date. Out of the two of us Arizona was actually the one who was most protective over the kids; the good man in a storm definitely showed when it came to them. I remember actually having to restrain her from saying some, what I'm assuming weren't going to be anything close to pleasant, words to Casey when she saw her at the grocery store around a week after she and Rory broke up. So it wasn't a shock to see that she wanted to be here just in case something happened, even though I was quite sure myself that nothing of the sort would.

"I think I better let you hand that," Arizona giggles. "You know that snacks are my forte."

"I do know that." I chuckle giving her a quick kiss on the top of her head. "Don't forget the seasoning on the popcorn." I smirk.

"After almost twenty years you think I could forget that?" She gives me a look that slightly resembles a glare.

"Well you did last week."

"Just give it a rest, Calliope." She shakes her head as she lets go of my arm and begins to walk away.

"You know you love me." I half yell with a chuckle as she enters the pantry off the kitchen, a smile crossing my face.

"Whatever, Calliope, whatever." Despite her words I can tell by the tone of her voice that she's smiling just as wide as my own.

* * *

_Looking into my almost perfectly organized closet I can't help but feel slight unease. I had invited her over for dinner and feels like I haven't done this in forever so I had no idea what to wear. Was she going to get slightly dressed up or was she going to take it as a casual thing? _

_As hear the door bell ring I settle for a navy shirt that was definitely more on the casual side. Straightening out my shirt, I rush out of my room, truly hoping that I would get to answer the door before either of my parents got to it before me._

_Opening the front door I'm fairly certain there is a look of relief that crosses my face for a moment, swiftly being replaced by nerves and jitters again. Jess is dressed in a pair of grey skinny jeans, a charcoal grey and black flannel plaid long sleeve shirt over a white camisole, set off with black matte flats. As she looks me in the eyes and can't help but feel as if my heart has skipped a beat._

"_I didn't know if you wanted me to bring anything so I hope you like apples." Jess says._

_I can't help but give her a slightly look of confusion before my internal questions are answered. She holds out a bottle resembling that of a wine bottle to me. As I look more carefully I notice the words "Sparkling Apple Juice"._

"_I don't drink so," Jess' voice is now giving away her nervousness I hadn't notice until now._

"_I don't either, and personally, I love this stuff." I give her a genuine wide smile as I take the bottle from her._

_A small, innocent smile crosses Jess' face causing butterflies to flutter in my stomach as I begin to retreat from the door. _

"_Well that's good because my brother thinks I'm nuts for liking it. I'm glad someone else is in the same boat." She giggles slightly as she follows me into the house._

"_I know, my grandparents are Catholic and always try to get me to drink wine at Christmas but I always pass and go straight for this," I motion to the bottle in my hand, "instead."_

"_I know the feeling" Jess laughs again._

_The closer we get to the dinning room the more surprised I am to find that the nervousness I had been feeling has dissipated. I'm truly hoping that this isn't just a momentary lapse; I really do not need to be a rambling, nervous moron the rest of the night._

* * *

"I'm soon going to have to go out there and tell them to be quieter because I'm going to miss my favorite part." Arizona pouts before taking a large bite out of her twizzler as she presses pause on the DVD player remote. She does so in response to an outburst of laughter erupting from outside our room in the dinning room just down the hall.

"Ari, its Speed, how many times have you seen this movie? A hundred or two, more than likely." I say, as Itighten my hold on her; careful not to knock over the bowl of popcorn between us.

Most would not have taken Arizona as the action movie type but I knew better. Before Arizona moved in with me during the early days of our relationship over half of her movie collection was action movies, the next in line were Disney classics and Pixar movies so that, as she had said, find something to talk to her patients about. I learnt that Arizona just as much as a sucker for Disney or Pixar movies as I was for coffee.

"I know but this is the best part!" She is nothing less than persistent as she takes another angry bite out of her twizzler.

"I know, sweetie. But you really wouldn't rather watch Annie get handcuffed to a pole by Payne than let our daughter have what seems to be a good time on her first date would you." I whisper in her ear, fully well knowing it was one of her weak spots when she needed to be calmed down.

"I guess not." She says before finishing off the poor twizzler that never had a chance. "I hope she really is having a good time. It's been way too long since I've seen her get all embarrassed and goofy over someone."

"See, that's what I'm talking about." I chuckle. "It's really great to see her like that again. I think Jess will be good for her don't you think?" I ask as I take a twizzler from the package in her hand.

"Hey!" Arizona slaps by hand playfully. "Those are mine, you have you're icky old popcorn!" I can tell her tone she's only kidding.

"Hey, popcorn is good for you thank you very much."

"I'm sure, Calliope, I'm sure." She says sarcastically. "But I would have to agree with you on the other thing. We don't know Jess very well but from what I've seen from her she seems to be really great."

"Let's just hope that stays that way." I smirk, "I really don't want to have to hold you back from attack another teenage girl ever again." I give her a quick kiss on the temple before taking a bite out of my twizzler.

"Me too honey, me too." She gives me a content smile that makes butterflies flutter around in my stomach like a teenager girl. "She hasn't been able to trust anybody other than people she's known her whole life since Casey. So I really hope she's going to be able to trust her."

"If she can't trust her than we're going to have to show her how trust people again. Deal?" I ask my wife.

"Deal." She says with a dimpled smile.

As I notice that the laughing from outside our bedroom has stopped I take the remote from Arizona. "Shall we continue?" I say with a smirk.

"Yes, we shall. This is my favorite part." Arizona's tone is almost childlike now; making a goofy grin automatically cross my face.

"I know, dear." I chuckle, pressing the play button before Arizona gets riled up or the laughter from my daughter and her date starts again.

* * *

"_Are you serious? You said you were your team's MVP but I didn't realize that meant you were THAT good." I say in slight shock before taking a sip of my sparkling apple juice._

"_I am THAT good." Jess giggles. "We won the state championships the three years I went there for boy's baseball and I won two state championships with the girl's team. None of us played the second half of junior year. There was an accident that injured some of our players and killed our coach." Jess' tone has changed from playfully arrogant to being tainted with what appears to be sorrow._

"_I'm sorry you all had to go through that." The words are out of my mouth before I even get a chance to think about what I was saying._

"_That's not the worst part of it. You told me something important that made you the person you are now. So it's only fair that I return the favour correct?" Jess' voice is the most serious I've heard since that day at the hospital before we found out Cam was alive and well._

"_Like I said the other day I want to know everything about you that you're willing to tell me." I give her a soft smile, laying my hand on top of hers on the table for a moment, in an attempt to comfort her._

"_We were on our way to a tournament in Portland for the weekend and both of my moms had to work. Our coach coached us all the way up from little league so he was the closest thing I had to a father figure, so, they said it was okay for me to travel with the coach and the female chaperone who happened to be his wife with some other players in their minivan." Jess pauses and takes a deep breath as if to prepare herself for what she's about to say. "You know that cliché teenage movie where the star player dates the coach's daughter?"_

"_I would have to say I do." I say hesitantly, aware of where she could possibly be going with this._

"_Well that was my life. Things weren't all hunky dory but that was life until that day." She pauses once again and looks me in the eye. I can now see the pain behind them but I can also see what one would describe as hope. _

"_Elise was our coach's daughter and one killer short stop. We had been dating for exactly a year and a half on the day of the accident. We dealt with the glares, awkward smiles, and looks of fear or disgust from parents or players on the opposing teams as we held hands in the stands while watching other teams play or when we were at bat and she would sit on my lap in the dugout waiting to be on deck then gave me a kiss on the cheek before leaving when she was up. She was the one who held me when I broke down because my grandpa was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. We had been through a lot together but everything changed that day. We were struck by a 22 year old guy who decided to pretty much have a solo drag race on a busy street in the middle of day. Elise had been sitting in the middle between me and her best friend in the middle section of the van. I was sitting on the passenger side. We were T-boned to the driver's side and flipped twice. It took them almost a half an hour to get us out. I was the only who was partially conscious. I'm thankful that didn't have to consciously suffer through their pain and witness mine." _

_Looking at Jess I now notice that her eyes are filling with tears. In her eyes I can see sorrow and the pain that the accident has caused her._

"_The accident resulted in my coach dying on impact, Elise's best friend losing the ability to walk, and the rest of us," _

_She shakes her head, hanging it, never once looking at me. She pulls her hand out from underneath mine and stands up out of her chair. She slowly, almost hesitantly removes her long sleeve flannel shirt to reveal her arms "We received shrapnel wounds and lacerations. With some of us it was on more than just our bodies."_

_I can't help but be some what in shock. Jess has areas of scar tissue adorning her arms, covering approximately thirty percent of each of her arms. "There's loads more where they came from." She says pulling her hand up to show her neck. "The side of her neck also has a long, thin scar down its length. "They were amazed I was still conscious when they got me out. They were even more amazed that I hadn't bled out."_

_She sighs slightly as she goes to put her shirt back on, she has one arm almost in the sleeve before I stop her without thinking. "Don't." Jess finally looks up from the ground, looking me in the eye. The tears that were once forming in her ice blue eyes are now sliding slowly down her face. "You don't need it." I can feel the blush creeping across my face. I now know the reason why how when there was a rare sunny day over twenty degrees Celsius when I went to visit Jess' house she was wearing a long sleeve shirt._

"_The pressure of Elise's body against me stopped me from bleeding out that day. She saved my life. Yet after that day she didn't trust me, she didn't trust her mother, she didn't trust anyone. Elise didn't trust the things she needed the most. She turned into someone I didn't even recognize. That's why I am the way I am with people I care about, that's why I don't give up. It's because I don't want what happened to Elise to happen to any of the people who mean something to me. That's why I'm glad you took the chance to tell me about Casey."_

_In this moment even with tears in her eyes and christening her cheeks with mascara tinted tear stains she is the most beautiful I've ever seen her. I can see her breathtaking character shine through the pain, making her strong like Atlas, who carried the world on his shoulders. _

_I hesitantly stand up from my own chair. I take a step towards her; her eyes and mine never parting glances. "You're beautiful, inside and out." I wrap my arms around her, pulling into a quick hug for a moment before pulling away with a soft smile. "Don't ever forget that okay."_


	21. Vindicated

I was blown away with the response on the last chapter. Thank you guys so much for that. I'll be working on the sequel over the next little while considering this chapter will be the second last. Sorry it took me a while to get up; I had an annoying case of writer's block but thankfully school ended for summer holidays so I've got a lot more time on my hands. This chapter will be written from Arizona's, _Rory's, __**Mark's **_point of view. I hope you guys enjoy! =D

Also, **ShaskaShane**, don't feel lame you're not the only one who wants something like that (Y)

Twenty. Vindicated

"And I am flawed but I am cleaning up so well  
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself."  
- Vindicated, Dashboard Confessional

I awake to the sound of Calliope's soft snoring filling my ears. I wipe the sleepiness from my eyes; the rare sunshine is beaming in through the open blinds consequently causing me to shut my eyes again in shock. I carefully open my eyes once again, guarding them with my hand, and look at the clock to see that it is nine forty eight in the morning. I can't help but smile slightly realizing I would be the one to wake Calliope this morning rather than vice versa as it usually has been since my father's death barely over a month ago.

Rolling over carefully the slight smile on my face grows. The sunlight is framing Calliope's face, accenting every feature. I slowly lift my hand up to her face, brushing her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

"Calliope." I whisper, giggling slightly at her reaction.

Her eyelids flutter and she slightly wrinkles her nose. Her eyelids open slowly to reveal her stunning brown eyes that never seem stop being a safe harbour. "Good morning, gorgeous." I say, placing a kiss on tip of her nose.

"Well good morning to you too," Calliope smirks before wrapping her arm around my waist pulling me closer so that she can give me a quick good morning kiss. "So what's the plan for today, Dr. Robbins?" She says with a smirk.

"Mark's soccer game is at eleven thirty, am I correct?"

"Yes, you are correct."

"Well I was thinking peanut butter toast and turkey bacon for breakfast, maybe some eggs. The boy's got to have some protein before the game." I chuckle. "You going to help me?"

"Affirmative." Calliope says with a smile before beginning to pull down the bed sheets. "I'm sure Rory's already up and I'm also sure that you want to get the dirt on how her date went last night."

"Why are you so sure of that?" I give her a confused look in an attempt to hide my curiosity.

"Because I'm curious, and you're more like me than think when it comes to the kids." She chuckles. "Tell me you're not the least bit curious."

The smile I've been trying to hold back burst through and my dimples become prominent. "Fine, you caught me. Now, can we get on the morning? Because I seriously think I need to wake up as much as possible even if I'd rather lay here and be lazy with you all day." I ask, squinting slightly due to the sun shining into my eyes.

"I think that can be arranged." She says with a smirk.

Before I know it I'm being hauled out of bed by Calliope. As I collide with her body she almost immediately begins tickling my sides, fully knowing it was one of the better ways to make me completely awake.

"Calliope!"

* * *

"_Yum, something smells good." I say as I enter the kitchen, taking a seat at the bar top counter. "Whatcha makin'?" _

_My mother set of blond curls pop out from behind the open fridge door. "What does it look like silly? I'm making breakfast." She says with a wide smile as she shuts the fridge door._

"_I know that but I was wondering about the specifics. Eggs? Toast? You know what I mean Mom." I chuckle as she walks over to the counter._

"_We're having peanut butter toast and turkey bacon." Ma's voice enters my conscious as she enters the kitchen from behind me, causing me to jump slightly. "Relax, there hija." She chuckles slightly before placing a quick kiss on top of my head on her way farther into the kitchen._

"_Pulling out all the protein stops for Mark I see." I giggle, "I'm sure that was your idea wasn't it Mom?" _

"_You know me so well, Rory. Every pediatrictian knows that growing boys need their protein." Mom gives me a dimpled smile as she begins to unwrap the turkey bacon. "You want to help?"_

"_Don't I always?" I smirk before hopping off the stool._

"_You sleep well last night?" Ma asks as she begins to toast the bread._

"_Yes, I did actually." I say, I can feel the blush from remembering last night's events._

"_The date with Jess went well I take it?" Mom cuts in._

"_Yes, that was good too." I say taking a few pieces of turkey bacon and place them in the pan._

"_So spill," Mom giggles. "You know that we both want to know all about it."_

"_I had a lot of fun and I actually learnt a lot about Jess." I say as I take spatula and flip the bacon. I'm hoping the sizzling will distract my parents enough to drop the subject because as much as I liked Jess, it felt kind of awkward discussing our date with my moms._

"_Well that's great. You two were doing a lot of laughing, and I do mean a lot." Ma says with a chuckle. _

_I laugh nervously before replying, "She's really funny. She doesn't come across as the comedian type but she is actually hilarious. She'd give you a run for your money, Ma."_

"_I'd like to see that sometime, if you let me. And your Mom of course." Out of the corner of my eye I can see my Ma giving me a content smile._

"_Well, I can't see why not." The smile on my Ma's face surprisingly has a calming effect on me._

"_I have an idea." Mom cuts in cheerfully. "Why don't you invite Jess to watch Mark's game with us?" _

"_Good idea, Mom, in theory that is." _

"_Why?" She gives me a confused look, slanting her head slightly like a little kid. I would have to say Mom's childlike antics were quite endearing. They had definitely had helped make my childhood as great as it was._

"_Mom, our first date was last night."_

"_And?" She stills ceases to see my point._

"_She doesn't want to come across as clingy, Arizona." Ma says to my mother, thankfully I wasn't the one who had to say it._

"_I talked to you the morning after our first date." Mom replies as the toast pops out of the toaster, almost causing me fling bacon everywhere._

"_Arizona, do remember the conversation we had after our first date?" My Ma raises her eyebrow slightly as she pulls the toast out of the toaster before shoving, and yes I do mean shoving, more slices of bread in._

"_Yes, I do. It had to do with sandwiches." Mom picks up a piece of bread and waves it in front of Ma's face._

"_You guys talked about sandwiches?" I look at my parents in disbelief._

"_Yes, Rory, we did talk about sandwiches."_

"_But you don't even like sandwiches." I had got more than slightly confused at this point. I ceased to see how sandwiches had anything to do with me not wanting to come across as clingy or needy to Jess._

"_My point exactly." Mom gives me a wide dimpled smile, further confusing me._

"_Arizona dear, our daughter doesn't know the entire story so I think you're really confusing her." Ma says with a chuckle._

"_Sorry, Rory. I'll actually tell the story so that you get the point." My Mom began to tell me the story of my parents first date and the aftermath. "… So your Ma said '__I am broke, and I am exhausted Arizona. I'm working in the ER because I need the money. 6 people died on my watch today and I am fried. I wanted to stay in last night.' So my head is spinning and I'm feeling like complete idiot. She then said 'But, you wanted to go to a fancy restaurant. I can't do that. I can't.'"_

"_And I felt like a complete mess but that didn't matter. It didn't matter because do you know what your Mom said to me?" Ma pauses for a moment, almost as if it was for drama effect. I can't help but notice that she glances and Mom with a smile. "She said 'It's okay. So we'll stay in and eat sandwiches.' and I replied with what you said about her not liking sandwiches. She countered with 'But I like the girl who has the sandwiches.' She do you see your Mom's point?"_

"_I think." is all I can say, as I am still trying to see how it connects with my current situation._

"_If you really like, which I think you do," Mom says with small giggle, "then don't play games. Just call her and ask her to come if you want to. Don't do what I did and forget about the things she tells you because you want to impress her." _

_Mom shakes her head before speaking again. "I turned your Mom down twice, so I decided try and impress her and make up for my mistake when I knew better. I did that instead of doing what actually would have been better for the both of us. I played the game."_

"_Thankfully, your Mom doesn't play games any more. I smartened her up." Ma chuckles, wrapping her arm around Mom._

"_I think I get your point." I say with a chuckle. "And I think I'll give her a call."_

* * *

"_So do you actually like soccer or do you just watch because your brother plays?" Jess asks as we pull into the soccer pitch parking lot._

_I had called Jess after eating breakfast with my parents and siblings. My parents, Mark, and Addie had come in my parent's SUV. Tommy had opted to stay home and tinker with Ma's Dodge Charger; Tommy had inherited Ma's grease monkey nature and liked to work any machine he could get his hands on._

"_It can be kind of boring to watch sometimes but I actually like watching it, playing is another story." I chuckle slightly. "My hands may be coordinated but my feet? Definitely not. You've got to have skill in more ways than one to be a good player in soccer." I say as I turn the keys in the ignition. _

_Jess turns to look at me giving me a confused look as we get out of my car. "I think I've missed something here."_

"_You know that painting in my dining room, the one adjacent to the kitchen?" I ask, forgetting that I didn't mention being artistic last night at dinner._

"_The one of the tree with the tire swing?" Jess replies correctly._

"_Yes, that one, it's of the tree in the front year of my Mom's house growing up. She would always go there when she needed to think or just clear her head. I painted it for her birthday last year." _

_Jess locks at me in shock. "You did that?"  
_

"_I'm not a big fan of doing water colors but my Mom really likes them so I put my dislike for them aside and painted her one." I can feel the slight blush on my cheeks._

"_Woah, you are really talented. Do you just paint or?" She doesn't finish her question, obviously wanting me to finish it for her._

"_I draw as well. That's why I always carry that green notebook around all the time. I tend to doodle a lot in class and I used to ruin my notes so I eventually just got another notebook." I chuckle as we enter the opening to the stands. _

"_I've wondered about what's in there." Jess giggles with a smile._

"_Rory!" The voice of my younger sister, Addie booms through the small crowd catching my attention. I turn my head to see my sister waving at me; she is sitting next to my Mom, who has Ma on the other side of her. Addie motions to the empty seats along side of my Ma which I assume they have saved for Jess and I._

"_Do you mind sitting with my family?" I ask hesitantly._

_Jess gives me reassuring smile that manages to make butterflies flutter in my stomach. "Do you think I that I'd be here if I did? Come on, we better sit before the game starts."_

_I can't help but be slightly shocked as I feel Jess's hand takes my own and begins to lead me up the stands towards my family; as a result a smile crosses my face and realization crosses my mind. My Mom had been right; I didn't have anything to worry about, all I had to do was do what was right for me and things would fall into place._

* * *

_**Leaning against the goal post stretching my legs while talking to a few other players on the team I notice the rest of my family arrive. Pulling my arm behind my head I hear a loud laugh attempting to be stifled.**_

"_**Something funny?" I ask giving a look of confusion to Rory's ex-girlfriend's brother. Josh Sullivan was a fairly nasty piece of work, he was that guy who tried to be funny but always cruel and was a jerk.**_

"_**Oh nothing." he replies with a devious smirk crossing his face.**_

"_**Spit it out, Sullivan." I was fairly certain what he was laughing about but I had to hear it from his mouth. My imprinted Torres temper must have been showing because some of my teammates began to spread away from Josh and slowly moving towards me.**_

"_**I thought my sister had ruined girl on girl for me but I was just proven wrong." The smirk on his face grows, causing anger to course faster through my veins. "I thought Casey had messed your sister up really good. I didn't think she was ever going to bounce back. I was hoping she was turned off from chicks altogether so that I could get a chance to get some from her too. " He lets out a cackle to go with his devilish smirk.**_

_**Without even thinking I immediately lunge after him. As my body collides with mine a yell from the stands makes me hesitate to make another move, "Mark!" My Ma's voice booms through the pitch.**_

_**As a result I receive a blow to the face.**_

* * *

"Mark!" Calliope's voice enters my conscious drawing my attention to my son getting punched in the face.

"Robbins!" Mark's coach yells across the field as he rushes over towards the goal posts to pull the two of them apart.

I have to hold Calliope back from practically jumping out of her seat. She looks back at me with her expression saying "Why the hell are you holding me back?"

"Wait." I say, almost whispering. "Give him a minute so calm down, and then we'll go." I give her look of reassurance followed be a smile. I knew from experience with Calliope that it was best to give her, and our kids who had her temper, a moment to blow off the steam before start the questioning. As Mark begins to walk off the field, continuing towards us I give Calliope a nod.

"You guys stay here, we'll let you know if we're staying or not." Calliope looks at Addie then to Rory and Jess before taking my hand and pulling me up from my seat.

Reaching the sidelines I watch Mark spit the blood from his mouth before wiping the small trail running down his chin. "Mark Daniel Robbins, what the hell was that all about?" My use of language and tone is completely serious in attempt to hide the concern I'm feeling because I know that Mark made the first move.

"That was about Josh Sullivan being a complete pig." Mark says looking me straight in the eyes, not backing down as if to clarify that he had valid reason to go after him. There is also something about the look on his face that tells me there is something more to it than that; something about it that made it personal.

"Yes, Mark, we all know that. But that doesn't tell me why you lunged at him." I say, slightly surprised that Calliope hadn't said anything and was giving the key point on this one.

"I won't repeat the things he said because it doesn't deserve my breath, Mom." Mark looks at Calliope for a moment, then back to the stands to where I assume his eyes have met the sight of my eldest daughter. The look of disgust and slight pain in his eyes made it apparent that yes, what that pig of a boy had said as bad as I thought it was. "If you dishonour my family, I protect my family the best way I can. He deserved it."

With his words Mark sounds so much like my father, full of dignity and pride. No matter how it seemed to other parents I could help but let go of Calliope's hand and pull my son into a quick hug. "Then I believe you." I give my son a reassuring smile as I pat him on the back.

"So I'm assuming this game isn't going be one you're playing in is it?" Calliope asks hesitantly.

"I don't so, Ma, I don't think so." Mark says, the pride in his voice beginning to deteriorate.

"In that case, let's blow this popsicle stand!" I say excitedly with a smile in attempt to cheer my son up.

"Mom, have I ever told you how crazy you are?" Mark chuckles.

"Maybe once," I smirk, happy to achieve my goal. "Or twice."

* * *

_**As I look back up into the stands as my Ma motions to the rest of my family and company to follow them because we were leaving I can't help but notice a familiar face. **_

_**My heart almost immediately drops into my stomach as a result. "Great Mark, you've just made yourself look like an ass." I think, hanging my head as we exit to the parking lot, unfortunately it's not before my sister takes notice. Rory looks back behind her to directly where I had been looking. "Great job, Mark, just great."**_

"_**So what was that?" Rory asks in a whisper, nearly scaring me to death as they meet up with us."**_

"_**You don't want to know." is all I say not wanting to dissolve her happiness. You could tell that she was happy, her hold on the redhead standing slightly behind her, who I had assumed was Jess' hand was evident of that.**_

"_**You didn't know that Emma was there did you?" is her next question and I honestly do not want to answer that one either so I say nothing. "Okay I'll drop it." She finally says the words I'm waiting for.**_

"_**Thank you." I say gratefully.**_

"_**I'd like to introduce you to someone," Rory says with a small smile, her famous blush creeping up slightly on her cheeks. "Mark, this is Jess." She motions from me to the redhead then vice versa. "Jess, this is my brother Mark."**_

"_**It's nice to meet you." Jess holds her hand out to me to shake and I honour the gesture.**_

"_**Likewise." I smile as I shake her hand. As I finish shaking her hand realization dawns on me, my hands are empty; I had left my bag on the end of the bench. "I hate to meet and run but I just realized I left my bag back there on the bench. I'll see you again, I'm sure." I pause to give her a small smile; I would have to say that Jess had a positive energy around her which I was sure was already wearing off on my sister.**_

**_And with that I'm off, back to face the rest of my team even if it was only for a moment. That moment was likely enough to draw the attention of those around me to myself. I can't help but hope that I would be stealthy enough to get in and get out without a hitch; right now that was all I wanted._**


	22. When We Say

Hey guys this will be the last chapter in the form of an epilogue. I'm really sad that this story is over but I'm very thankful for the ride. Thank you all for your amazing reviews. I plan on taking a **short hiatus **before starting the sequel to map out the story line. This chapter is written from Callie's, _Rory's_, and _**Mark's**_ point of view; there are a lot of switches of points of view but it's necessary for the plot to work out. Also I'm sure that an Xbox and its games would be out of date in this era but just go with the flow XD I hope you guys enjoy! **Thank you for all your support!**

Epilogue. When We Say  
"This is the part when we say were in love  
And the part where we have our first kiss."  
- When We Say, AJ Rafael

"Arizona, where are we going?" I ask impatiently, staring out the passenger window of Arizona's SUV. After having Mark assure her for the hundredth time he was okay Arizona had kidnapped me leaving the kids at home alone.

"You'll see." Arizona smirks with a small giggle as she pulls out onto the highway.

"Uh uh, tell me. You know I don't like sitting in a car not knowing where I'm going." I turn my head, giving my full attention to Arizona.

"And you know that I like surprises." Arizona glances over for a moment, still continuing to give me a slightly devilish smirk.

"Well can you at least give me a hint?" I attempt to play with Arizona's child-like side; fully well knowing it is likely it will work. "Please?" I give her a slight pout to give it more effect.

"Calliope must you always be persistent?" She says in a joking scolding tone.

"Well it got me you didn't it?" I ask with a chuckle.

She doesn't speak for a moment, raising one of her hands to chin; looking after if she's thinking hard. "I would have to say you have a point there."

"Exactly." I nod with a content smile. My inner curiosity is now undeniable so I can't help but ask. "So can I have a hint now?"

* * *

"_So do you want me to drop you back to your house on my way home or?" I don't finish my question because I'm not sure what Jess is thinking considering what has just happened with Mark._

"_Well I have nothing to do for the rest of day until tonight so I'm up for anything." She smiles as we pull out of the soccer pitch parking lot._

"_Well it's a good thing that I have nothing else to do either then isn't it?" I say with a slight laugh, blush creeping up slightly on my cheeks._

"_Definitely." Jess laughs along with me. "So do you have a CD player in this thing or rely on old Mister Radio?" _

"_Well Mister Radio is a good friend but I do have a CD player. My brother is a real grease monkey and loves music way too much so he installed it for me. He claims that even old muscle cars have to have a decent sound system and CD player just because they're old doesn't give them an excuse not too." I chuckle._

"_Mark? I can't see him as the grease monkey type. Then again I can be wrong about these things." Jess looks at me curiously._

"_Oh no, Mark's definitely not a grease monkey. My youngest brother, Tommy, loves cars practically as much as my Ma. I like to drive them, whilst Tommy and Ma like to drive and tinker until they're practically perfect. It must be a Torres thing. This car used to be hers but my parents gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday." I smile as we approach an intersection. "So where to, you better make up your mind fast" I chuckle, staying in the middle lane so that I can move easily to either line along side of me._

"_Your place or wherever you want to go is good." She replies. "I would offer my place but my brother is coming home later so my parents are in shambles trying to get the place ready for him."_

"_And I'm guessing you want to avoid the firecrackers?" I ask as I carefully pull into the left lane which leads towards my house._

"_I love my parents but when it comes to this they need to work it out themselves. So, I am all yours for the rest of the day until I have to go pick up Cam with my parents." I can detect a slight bit of embarrassment in her tone to match the blush that was edging her features as I glance back in her direction._

"_I like the sound of that." I chuckle as I pull into my street._

"_So what's the plan?"_

_I give her a nervous smile. "I'm sure we'll think of something." _

* * *

As Arizona steers the SUV down a highly familiar street I have a feeling I know where she's taking me. "Ari, why are we going to the hospital?" I ask as she passes the first exit to the parking lot. "I'm not on call and neither are you therefore we have no reason to go there right?" I'm now becoming slightly nervous.

"We're not going to the hospital, silly." She giggles as she turns the corner onto another familiar street. "This is where we're going."

Arizona parks on the side of the street parallel to the hospital, I don't even need to look to know where she's parked the car. It is outside our old apartment building; where I had originally lived there with Cristina but Arizona had moved in a few months after the start of our relationship. Baring our time spent apart during our break up we had lived there together for over three years, Cristina had moved in with Owen a few months after we had gotten back together, and stayed there until we bought our dream house that we still live in.

"And why are we here exactly?" I can't help but ask curiously. I understood where we were but I didn't truly understand why.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." She winks with a giggle. "Come on, Calliope, out of the car." She says as she undoes her seatbelt before opening her door and hopping out of the vehicle. Getting out of the car I can't help but chuckle. My wife definitely was not predictable, her spontaneity was actually extremely endearing.

As I reach her side of the car Arizona takes my hand and begins to lead me to the apartment building entrance. Upon reaching the front step Arizona reaches her hand up to the buzzer ringing the buzzer on our old apartment as if it was years ago and I was home to let her in. To my surprise she receives a respond in the form of a loud buzz and the main door pops ajar slightly.

"Arizona Robbins, what are you up to?" I shake my head as she pulls open the door.

"After you, m'lady." Arizona says with a slight Scottish accent causing me to laugh as she holds the door for me.

"You Scots are always so charming, aren't you?" I chuckle.

"Of course we are." She giggles. "Now don't stand in the doorway all afternoon lassie." Her voice is still accented when she attempts to usher me into the foyer.

"Okay, I'll move, but only if you come with me." I smirk fully well knowing that I didn't even need to ask.

"You've got yourself a deal." She takes my hand once more and begins to lead further into the familiar building, still not knowing what my wife had up her sleeve.

* * *

"_So what do you want to do today, Jess?" I ask as I lead her downstairs to the den._

"_I'm up for almost anything, just as long as it's legal of course." Jess giggles._

"_Don't worry, we'll keep it legal." I chuckle. "But are you sure you're up for anything, and I mean absolutely anything?" I say mysteriously as an idea pops into my head._

"_I think so." She says, almost bashfully._

"_Do you trust me?" As we reach the bottom step I turn around to look her in the eye; as my eyes meet her pale blue eyes I begin to melt almost instantly._

_She doesn't reply for a moment, but a smile slowly creeps across my face, causing butterflies to flutter in my stomach all over again. "I trust you."_

"_Then you're up for this." As nervous as I am right now to this I smile widely, taking her hand and begin to lead her towards my studio; hopefully this wasn't too early to bring her there._

* * *

"This is where we're going." Arizona says as she stops in front of the door to our old apartment; she takes my hand in hers, laying my hand on hers palm up.

Arizona puts her hand into her coat pocket and produces a key; she lays it into the palm of my hand with a dimpled smile. I give her a look as if to ask should I open the door and I receive a small almost child like nod, the smile on her face never diminishing. I hesitantly take the key from my hand and place in the lock, as I turn the key I look at Arizona because I'm still not quite sure what is going on.

"Go on, open it." Arizona giggles slightly as she brings our hands down to our sides, intertwining our fingers.

I timidly push open the door. As the door opens it reveals a simplistic picnic basket, a bottle of wine and two glasses atop a thin classic chequered blanket; the blinds are drawn and the room is lit by various candles around the room. The apartment is bare besides for these fixings.

"Ari, what is all this?" I ask as Arizona begins to lead me into the apartment. "How did you," She doesn't let me finish my sentence before she cuts me off.

"You know what tomorrow is don't you?" Arizona asks with a small smile.

It now dawns on me what the date is. Tomorrow is our anniversary. It will be twenty years since Arizona walked into that dirty bar bathroom at Joe's and gave me the most breathtaking kiss I've ever had. Arizona had also insisted two years later that we would get married on that date because she thought it was impossible for any other date so mean so much to her.

"I do know." I say as she stops in her tracks and takes both of my hands just as she did that day she became my wife.

"I knew that I wouldn't get the chance to do this tomorrow so I wanted to do this today." Arizona's voice is barely more than a whisper. "I wanted to come back here because this is the place where you made me see that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with anyone who wasn't you. Right here, in the exact spot is where I told you that I loved you for the first time. That was the first time I said it to you but Calliope I knew it long before then."

She's now looking me straight in the eyes, causing me to see the tears that are now forming in hers. "Ari," I attempt to say something to her but I can't come up with words to express what I'm feeling.

"Calliope, I knew the day after our first date. I knew that day and every day after, every day we were together and every day we were apart. I knew it when we fought and when we danced. I always knew. I'm in love with you, Calliope Iphigenia Robbins, and I always will be." The tears that were once forming in her eyes are now streaming down her face.

I let go of Arizona's hands; I wrap my arm around her waist pulling her close, so that my forehead is gently pressed against hers. I lift my hand to her smooth pale face, placing my hand delicately on her cheek and wipe away her tears.

Being this close now I can't resist Arizona's amazingly aromatic lips, my lips meet with hers constructing a moment of bliss. The taste of her strawberry lip gloss and something that's distinctly Arizona causes adrenaline to rush through my veins and my heart to pound in my chest. My body's need for oxygen soon becomes undeniable, it is only then do I pull away.

As I pull away I smile widely, taking a deep breath before speaking. "I'm in love with you too. I don't want to ever live a day without you, Arizona Amelia Robbins."

* * *

_**After reassuring my Mom numerous times that I was okay I had ventured downstairs to the den, hoping to escape the slight mess I'd made. I had switched on my Xbox 360; I had definitely picked up my gaming fix from watching my Ma play growing up. Resident Evil had been part of my cure for everything since the beginning of high school. **_

"_**You've got to be kidding me!" I growl as the television screen goes black. **_

"_**Ah!" Screams come from my sister's studio next door as the lights go out.**_

_**I get up off the couch, tossing my controller down behind me, and make my way out to the hall off the den. "Rory?" I call out to my sister knowing she probably just got one of the frights of her life.**_

"_**Mark, what's going on?" Rory calls back as she slowly opens her studio door. **_

_**As she opens the door she reveals herself and Jess who are standing in paint stained smocks, holding darts. "I should be asking you the same thing. Darts, Rory, really?" I say sarcastically.**_

"_**Yes, Mark, darts. See." She moves away from the doorway to expose large canvas decorated with colored balloons which I assume are filled with various colors of paint. **_

"_**Abstract much?" I chuckle, giving my older sister a classic Robbins grin.**_

"_**You very well know I like abstract art." She retorts with a smirk of her own.**_

"_**I like abstract too." Jess pipes in, giving me a small genuine smile that is laced with sympathy causing my stomach to churn slightly. **_

"_**Well I'll go check on that. I think a fuse blew. Your lights in here with the power from the TV and my Xbox as well as whatever the heck Addie is doing upstairs are enough to do that." I say, my smirk now faltering as I leave.**_

"_**Thanks Mark!" I hear Rory call out as I reach the top of the stairs to head for the garage to check the fuse box; normally I would call back down the stairwell but right now I simply can't bring myself to call out and tell her she's welcome.**_

* * *

"_Is he okay?" Jess asks as Mark bounds up the stairs. The hesitance in her voice is quite prominent but I'm glad she cares enough to ask._

"_I think he's not the greatest right now but he'll be okay. The whole no power issue and what happened today pushed his buttons so he just needs some time to get over it." I give her a smile as I take the darts from her hand before carefully walking over to the counter and laying them down. "I don't think we'll be able to use these until the lights on and I don't think that will be anytime soon." I chuckle slightly._

"_Okay, that's good then. Not about the power," Jess pauses for a moment to let a small giggle slip out. "I mean about Mark being okay."_

_I lean back against the counter, attempting to be nonchalant regarding what I'm about to ask. "Why'd you ask anyways?"_

_In the dark I barely can see the outline of Jess' petite figure approach me. She doesn't speak until she's barely two inches in front of me. "I asked because I care about you," she pauses obviously out of nervousness, "and you care about Mark. Plus he seems like a really great guy, besides for the whole tackling thing." She chuckles; I can feel her warm slightly sweet breath on my face causing my heart to feel as if it has skipped a beat or two._

_My resistance has become futile as her breathtaking blue eyes become visible in the dark. I reach out, placing my hand gently on her cheek. Jess' eyes now look directly in to mine and I can see that my hesitance it without reason. I can tell that she isn't about to deny my action and that she is simply waiting for me to make the first move. Almost painstakingly slow, I edge myself off the counter._

_I give in to the fear, taking the plunge, as I place my lips against hers. Instantaneously I get my reward as I taste her lips when she begins to kiss me back. After what feels like forever in my mind I feel Jess' hand on the small of my back as we gradually pull away from each other._

"_So what was I saying?" are the only words in my head I can use to form a sentence. As soon as they're out of my mouth I feel like a moron._

_Jess immediately begins to giggle, "I believe we were talking about Mark." She giggles once again._

"_Oh yeah, that." I chuckle still slightly breathless and surprised that she hasn't removed her slight hold on me._

"_So who's Emma? You mentioned her to your brother and he seemed like he really didn't want to talk about her. I don't mean to pry but I'm curious by nature." She gives me a sweet smile._

_Without thinking I reply. "Emma is the girl my brother has been in love with for forever. Butt he won't admit that to any one who isn't me and that's only because I caught on."_

"_So why doesn't he just tell her? Mark seems like a great catch." Jess looks at me slightly confused._

"_Emma is more than just some girl to him. Mark," I go to finish my sentence but I can't as I notice my eldest brother's figure standing in the doorway. The barely visible look of pain and shock on his face stops me. I carefully pull away from Jess, still looking in his direction as he begins to run up the stairs. "Mark!"_

_I call out more than once but all I receive is the reply of a slamming door. _


End file.
